When the world stopped, Togo felt many things. An instant chill coming over her body, a deep sense of foreboding entering her mind, yet perplexingly, she didn't feel anywhere near the sense of surprise one would expect from the world suddenly stopping and a bright light enveloping them. If anything, she felt more confused at her own reaction than what was happening, a feeling which only rose more once the light that'd come for her and Yuna faded.
Gone was their school, gone were the people, gone was the world itself. Everything, for far as the eye could see, had been replaced by innumerable roots of wondrous colors and sizes, some being the thickness of a whole building. There were some stone platforms between some of the roots, but otherwise, everything was covered by the weaving structures and leaves that stretched on to infinity. It was very much like gazing upon a fantastical world that didn't belong on Earth, a place filled with supernatural energy.
And yet, aside from an uneasy feeling something bad was going to happen soon, Togo felt weirdly composed. If anything, Yuna, usually the ever cheerful and optimistic girl, looked more nervous and afraid than Togo felt, despite her attempts to visibly control her nerves.
"What is this?" Yuna pensively asked, glancing over to Togo with an uneasy frown.
"This place… We should be careful, Yuna-chan..." Togo trailed off cautiously, reaching into her pocket to find her phone. It felt important to have right now.
"Eh? What's wrong, Togo-san?" Face growing more concerned, Yuna asked.
"I'm not entirely sure…" Togo muttered, hand to her chin, perhaps she was still somewhat in shock from the whole situation and it hadn't quite 'caught up' with her. Adding more mystery, was that her phone screen had changed from its normal look, certainly related to the world's transformation. There was that odd sense of deja vu creeping up yet again about the situation, but this couldn't have possibly happened before.
"Togo-san." Seeing her confusion, Yuna's voice stopped Togo's fingers from moving on almost reflexive action. "We'll be okay. I'm here with you." The girl spoke with a strong voice, yet her body betrayed the unease she tried to hide. Her 'confident' fist was visibly trembling.
Togo looked over to her friend, an uneasy smile crossing her face. Yuna was always one to try and keep everyone's energy up, not letting her spirits damper no matter what happened. It was something Togo especially loved about her. And perhaps not so weirdly, she felt Yuna was right. Togo didn't know what was the cause of her bad feeling, but whatever it was, she felt like they could handle it. She knew they could.
Yuna's attempt at a reassuring expression quickly gave way to confusion, glancing down toward Togo's phone. "Huh? Togo-san, what's that on your phone?"
Togo followed Yuna's gaze, looking upon her phone with a raised eyebrow. Yet again, her phone screen changed. This time there was a large, steel colored circle in the middle with a seed that was in the earliest stages of sprouting, a small stem coming from it, with Togo's thumb anxiously hovering over it.
"I don't know either, Yuna-chan…" Frustrated and confused, Togo answered. When had she gotten this open? Did she accidentally push it while distracted? A mixture of emotions fought for control in her. Her body felt compelled to push it, that it was the right thing to do, yet paradoxically there was a hesitation in her fingers that held Togo back even when her mind tried to obey the did all this feel so… natural? She hadn't ever had an episode like this that felt so strong. Should she push it anyway? It felt like the right thing to do, yet there was an unshakable feeling there was more to the situation.
Frowning, Togo's eyes trailed down to her paralyzed legs
A rustling of leaves from behind instantly jolted Togo and Yuna upright, attention darting toward the noise. To Togo's immense relief, she saw the rest of her club, Fuu leading Itsuki by the hand and brushing aside the bushes with another.
"Yuna. Togo." Fuu spoke upon her eyes meeting with their's, visible relief coming over her features and shoulders relaxing. "We found you-"
"Fuu-senpai, Itsuki-chan!" Yuna shouted, running over to Fuu and pulling her into a hug before the older girl could finish.
Togo let out a deep sigh. Yuna must have been a lot more nervous than she let on to have that kind of reaction. Fuu was their senior in school and the club president, seemingly one of the few people Yuna even slightly let her guard down around and looked up to, like any good upper classmen.
"Um, what's going on? How did you two get here?" Yuna started speaking rapidly, flinging one question after the other while clinging onto Fuu.
Fuu sighed, putting on a strong face while gripping Yuna's shoulders and delicately looking her in the eyes to bring a stop to her worries. "It could have been worse. If we'd left our phones behind, we'd never have found each other."
The statement drew confused stares toward Fuu.
"Over here, there's a lot to explain and it's better in a less open spot." Face shifting back toward a heavy frown, Fuu motioned for Togo and Yuna to follow her, leading Itsuki back in the direction they came from.
This had been the scenario that haunted Fuu's nightmares for almost 2 years. Like it or not though, the reality had arrived and now they had to deal with it. Crying about it wouldn't do any good and they had a job to do with not too much time for Fuu to explain. It was time to get everyone up to speed. Just in case any Vertex arrived to interrupt, Fuu had led the group to a small area behind a larger root, a few smaller ones around it that could act as benches.
"This hidden feature automatically activates whenever this happens." Fuu began, dripping toward her more serious voice and showing her audience the Jukai map on her phone that'd allowed her to find them. Itsuki and Yuna were, expectedly, looking pretty confused right now, but Togo was different. She looked curious more than anything.
"That's pretty convenient." Yuna commented, looking down and fiddling with her phone a little as Fuu had instructed.
"Isn't this the app you told us to download when we joined the club?" Togo questioned, looking directly into Fuu's eyes.
"Yes." Fuu curtly nodded toward her friend They were about to be in the middle of a battle soon without much time to dwell on it, but Fuu hoped everyone wouldn't judge her too harshly once this was over.
"I see… So, then we use this to fight, don't we?" Togo muttered, looking back at her phone.
Everyone's eyes immediately shot over to Togo, confused. Even the girl herself looked confused, blinking a few times.
"Togo, that's… Right? How did you know?" Fuu slowly spoke, perplexed. The girl acted confused over the situation, if weirdly calm, but how did she guess that already? Fuu hadn't even said anything about the Jukai, Vertex, or the Shinju.
Togo's eyes shifted between the group staring at her, a frown over their mouth. "I… saw the alert on my phone, before the world changed, said something about Vertex approaching and protecting humanity, so I guessed." The wheelchair bound member said, not sounding entirely sure of herself
"W-We're going to fight something?" Itsuki meekly muttered, looking distressed.
Fuu internally frowned, but otherwise kept her face a perfect mask. Togo's intuition was something to fear, but she couldn't have this getting off track. Explain it wrong and everyone would get too nervous like her sister already was. Fuu wished she could have told her that wasn't true, but that wasn't an option.
"That's right, Itsuki." Fuu plainly answered in a heavy tone. "But it's not as simple as you're thinking. If we show our resolve to fight, another feature in the app activates. Listen carefully and stay calm, I'll explain everything."
"I'm sorry for interrupting, Fuu-senpai. Please continue." Togo uttered a quick apology before giving Fuu the floor, listening intently.
Taking a deep breath, Fuu collected herself and began speaking. "I was dispatched here by the Taisha."
Itsuki and Yuna recoiled in surprise, eyes widening. "They're the ones who look after the Shinju-sama, right?" Yuna asked.
"We've been together all this time, but I never knew anything about this until now…" Itsuki trailed off in a manner that struck Fuu directly in the heart. She hated to keep her sister in the dark like this.
"I wasn't going to say anything unless we were chosen." Keeping herself composed, Fuu spoke. "My team, the Sanshu Middle School Hero Club, was it."
"It?" Yuna questioned with a tilted head.
Fuu nodded slowly. "The world we're I now is a barrier created by the Shin-"
"HEY! About time I finally found somebody!"
A loud yell from a voice Fuu didn't recognize bolted the girl to her feet. Following the direction of it, alongside everyone else, Fuu saw the figure of a girl standing on a root maybe 50 meters above them due south. It was hard to make out everything, but she had long side twin tails that came to her ankles and wore a maroon-colored school uniform. But most the striking thing was a gigantic, zanbato like sword nearly her height and wide as her torso, heft over her shoulder with an effortless single hand.
"E-Eh? Is that Kagurazaka-san?" Yuna stammered loudly.
Fuu's eyes jolted over to Yuna, her confusion rising even further. Yuna knew this girl? But, before Fuu, or anyone else, could say another word, there was a loud thud beside them.
"Hey, Yuki-chan, Togo-chan! Good to see somebody familiar here. Do any of you have any idea what's going on?" The now much closer voice said from almost directly in front of them.
Fuu's head whipped over and saw the strange girl was now standing right in front of the group, having somehow crossed the distance faster than anyone could process.
"H-Huh? W-When did-" Itsuki stammered, head shooting from where mystery swordswoman stood now and had a millisecond earlier, backstepping at her sudden arrival.
Endless questions rose up in Fuu's head. How did she know Togo and Yuna? Was she somebody who also got chosen? That explained her weapon and clearly superhuman abilities, but she hadn't seen her anywhere on the map when searching for her friends. The Taisha never said anything and she didn't look like a Hero.
Who was this girl?
She didn't have time for this, it'd be bad if the Vertex arrived before everyone was ready for battle, but she had to at least learn who this was and ensure their safety. "Who are you? How do you know Togo and Yuna?
The twin-tailed girl raised a curious eyebrow at Fuu's comment, looking over to her without losing any of her energy. "I'm Kagurazaka Asuna! We met on their way to school. We were going to talk after they got out of class, but then time stopped, even froze my friends, and now I'm here."
"… You weren't ever going to school, were you." Togo pointedly asked.
"Haha… Not really, it's kinda complicated. Could you tell me what's going on first though? If this is that thing where monsters appear probably don't have a lot of time. Can't remember what it's called since he told me two years ago..." Voice dropping significantly, to where she was muttering to herself more than anything, Asuna trailed off.
But those words only inspired further confusion within Fuu. She already knew about the Vertex, even if not by name. Far too many questions and not enough answers were coming up. At the very least, Asuna appeared to be friendly so maybe they could talk more once the Vertex were dealt with.
Glancing down at her phone to check the time she had, Fuu bit her lip in frustration. There was the marker for one of the 12 Vertex rapidly approaching their position, so close that Fuu could see it off in the distance following the app's map. It was the height of a large building like all Vertex were, with a curved appendage trailing from its triangular mid-section down into a narrow tube, and a scarf flowing despite no wind. It was the Virgo Vertex. "She's right, we don't have much time. One of them is already almost here."
Following Fuu pointing toward the floating Vertex, reactions were varied. Yuna and Itsuki were varying shades of unsettled, moreso Itsuki, with fidgeting hands and worried eyes. Togo had a tense frown on her face, but looked prepared and ready. Asuna, meanwhile looked barely bothered, her sword tightly gripped and half raised, alongside her eyes scanning over the Vertex and sizing it up, the only noticeable shift in her body language.
"Listen carefully. It's slow, but I'll have to make this quick and explain some of it while we fight." Fuu continued after giving only a second to allow everyone to take in Virgo.
Everyone leaned in closer toward Fuu expectantly.
"That's a Vertex. It's an enemy of mankind, come to destroy the world." Fuu began, resolutely glaring at the slowly but surely advancing Vertex.
"What do you mean, 'destroy the world'?" Curiously, Yuna asked.
"The Vertex's objective is to reach this world's treasure, the Shinju-sama. When it does, the world will be destroyed." Fuu answered with one of the gravest tones she'd used in her life.
"Alright, so stop the Vertex from getting to the big glowing tree. It'll work out fine!" Punctuating her confidence with one swing of her sword, Asuna said.
Fuu stared pensively at Asuna, unsure. Normally, she wasn't one to turn down offered help, but this was far from a normal situation and required very specialized powers, or else all the enthusiasm in the world wouldn't do much and be suicide. Asuna clearly had something extraordinary about her, Fuu could feel a magical presence to her with their weak senses, but that wasn't enough.
"Kagurazaka-san, do you have the app to transform on your phone?"
Asuna tilted her head, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a phone that looked only slightly more advanced than a flip phone, even having a physical keyboard. "Uh, pretty sure I don't?"
"Then, I appreciate wanting to help, but you're going to have to stay back. The only thing that can let us fight the Vertex is the Shinju-sama's power, it can't be hurt otherwise and you won't have the protection we do." Fuu sternly answered, having expected that answer. It wasn't exactly true, the Taisha had told her magic could also defeat them and strength in it would be amplified significantly once transformed, but without being able to transform there was no way Asuna could've had the prowess in magic needed to contribute. But, it was more than that. Asuna clearly had power, somehow, but even if she did possess the strength in magic to fight against all logic,Asuna would've lacked the Shinju's protection that kept everyone safe from lethal injuries. Fuu had already duped her club into doing this on the Taisha's orders, she would not take someone being gravely injured on her watch and conscious if it could be helped.
The girl didn't look deterred in the slightest at the reprimand, but her smile did soften, yet still brimmed with confidence. "Thanks for worrying, but I'm used to fighting and it shouldn't be able to hurt me much anyway. I've got something that should let me hurt it plenty, though."
Fuu frowned. The last thing she needed was somebody good intentioned but suicidally stubborn right now.
"Something's happening." Togo's cautious voice only added to the tension, pointing in the direction of the still distant Vertex.
Something was approaching the group at incredible speeds. Fuu had only a fraction of a second to realize it was on a direct path toward everyone!
Before Fuu could speak up, she saw something blur where Asuna had been and her presence shifted far away, the advancing object splitting in two and briefly appearing to melt, as if a knife went through butter, before vanishing entirely.
"Told you I'd be fine! Say whatever you need, I'll keep this thing busy!"
Asuna's voice drew Fuu's attention off to the right of where the missile came from. Standing confidently on one of the roots, Asuna was waving toward the group with one hand while resting their abnormally sized sword on her shoulder.
"How did she do that…?" Fuu muttered to herself, pensive. Whatever she did to that projectile didn't look normal, but somehow she actually was able to contend with what the Vertex sent, which only sparked further questions without answers. Even with that, Fuu was mildly thankful to not have to throw everyone to the wolves with little preparation, including herself, but something still felt so wrong about this. But, if she could do that and was so ready to fight, maybe it's be alright for her to fight, long as they were careful? The world was one the line.
Regardless, even though Asuna did offer to distract it, Fuu couldn't stand here like a useless bystander forever and let this mysterious girl take care of everything. This was the Hero Club's duty and the more fighters, the quicker Vertex would die, the sooner it would stop damaging and the Jukai, and the faster maybe she could get answers.
Taking a step forward, Fuu readied her phone. "We have to take care of the Vertex now, the rest comes later! You don't have to fight if you're not ready." It was a lot to ask of her club, her friends, all of the sudden. And though Asuna was still an enigma, she was on their side and Fuu liked her odds better against the Vertex together than solo. The Hero Club had to fight eventually, but if everyone wasn't prepared now, she would manage till they were. Somehow.
"I'm still not too sure what's going on, but if we don't fight the world might get destroyed. W-We can't do nothing then!" Yuna's voice only trembled for a single word before reshaping into the more confident tone Fuu was used to.
"I won't back down from defending our country, Fuu-senpai." Togo's ever patriotic, and still bizarrely composed, voice sounded off next.
"Onee-chan… I'll follow you no matter what. I can't do nothing while you're fighting!" Similar to Yuna, Itsuki's voice was anxious and struggling to control her fear, but there was a determination in her eyes despite the fear.
Fuu felt some of the tension leave her shoulders at the club's affirmations, her younger sibling echoing the words she had said yesterday striking her in the heart with warm feelings that spread to an uncontrollable smile on her face. They could do this.
"Think I'm close enough to finish this!"
Asuna's shouting once more command attention. The girl was on a distant root, much closer to the Virgo Vertex but still at least hundreds of meters away. From what Fuu could see, the swordswoman had her weapon pulled behind her with body hands, ready to swing. An energy was gathering around Asuna, wind visibly starting to spin in a circle around her.
An instant later, the landscape around Asuna changed.
The roots of the Juka were numerous and wonderful in color, transforming the world around them to shield it from damage. It mitigated collateral and should have been impossible to undo unless the Shinju was slain by the enemy. And yet, before everyone's very eyes, the power forming the roots was undone in the blink of an eye. Like someone using the skip function on a movie, the roots of the Jukai were there one moment and then gone the next. A small circle, not more than a couple meters, around Asuna had become very normal and out of place looking grassland, foliage and bushes now around her.
"Stop doing that!" Fuu screamed at the top of her lungs in horror at what she was seeing. This was going to put the real world in far more danger!
Asuna's form and attack paused, the girl glancing around confused at the changed landscape and the sudden cry. The distraction was enough she jumped away a split second before another flying object impacted where she had been an instant ago and erupted in a violent explosion that blanketed over a dozen meters in thick smoke and rocked far beyond that with the shockwave. It reached so far away, even Fuu felt the faintest tremor run through her.
Any questions Fuu had about Asuna had been magnified tenfold by what she just witnessed. What she just witnessed should have been impossible, but the truth was before her very eyes. The mysterious surrounding Asuna seemed to be without end, but one thing Fuu knew was she could not let this go unchecked. The Vertex already corroded the Jukai and could harm the world through it, but this completely nullified the whole point of it.
Fuu's concerns only furthered after the smoke cleared enough to let her glimpse the damage. An entire section of the impacted root was nearly gone, barely hanging on by the faintest connection. What kind of backlash would be suffered by such damage? Even if Asuna was friendly, they couldn't do that again.
"Togo, Yuna, can you distract the Vertex for a minute?" Fuu said heavily. She didn't want to send them fighting first, but it'd only be a minute and the Shinju's barriers would keep them safe.
"We'll suppress the enemy until you can find out what happened." Togo was the first to sternly, yet cautiously, speak up. Like always, she was quick on the uptake and that, alongside how calmly she somehow took this situation, made Fuu trust she and Yuuna could handle themselves for a minute.
"Thanks, Togo. Itsuki! Follow me!" With a brief glance to her sister, Fuu tapped the button on her phone to ready for battle.
This wasn't going anything like she planned.
Asuna had been through many otherworldly situations in only the last few years since becoming involved in the world of magic, which had helped her greatly in taking such a weird shift of the world in stride. But even though this wasn't the most bizarre thing she had ever seen, it certainly ranked near the top. The whole world changing into something fantastical, giant monsters, battling to protect the world, it almost felt like she was on Mundus Magicus again.
But what was certainly not like Mundus Magicus was how she undid the transformation of the world without meaning too. And, judging from the panicked shouting she heard, that was a super bad thing. Far too many questions were rising up without any good source of answers for the teenager. Solving those mysterious was more up Chachamaru's alley. Asuna was sure she and Setsuna were alright, but the girl hadn't been able to find or sense either of them following the changed world. But, they would have to come later, the immediate danger needed to be dealt with first. Though, considering how her last attack went, Asuna was cautious of jumping in again.
There had to be something she could do though. It was floating in the air, but still close to all the roots. The beast was sizable, somewhere around 30 meters, but that was small enough Asuna could still knock it around without much trouble. Maybe if she tossed it into the sky and used a ranged slash? Getting right underneath it for a vertical attack was asking for trouble with the tail like thing that shot the bombs being at the bottom of the beast.
She really had to learn to fly already, that would've made this so much easier! Could master one of the hardest techniques for magic and ki almost intuitively, but still couldn't do much more than float in place. Stupid high level abilities.
Fortunately, or perhaps not given the earlier reaction, Asuna sensed two of the girls approaching her, yet their presence was vastly stronger, utterly incomparable to before. It wasn't at the same level of as she felt from people like Ala Rubra, but the raw energy in it was well beyond almost everyone else, even her own power outside of her anti-magic. They had to of used some transformation.
Following her perceptions, Asuna saw two forms sailing through the air at a rapid pace. One, belonging to the oldest of the four she met, was traveling gracefully, ready to land on a trajectory right in front of Asuna. The other, possessed by the youngest girl, was doing far poorer. She was flailing through the air, clearly unused to traveling this way, desperately trying to align herself or grab onto something to no success.
And a second later, the landings were exactly what Asuna expected.
The older girl landed solidly on her feet in an almost practiced motion, not so much as stumbling on impact. Her outfit had gone through a drastic change from mere minutes ago. Gone was the school uniform she wore, instead replaced by a vibrant yellow robe with cuts along the back and front, showing pure white leggings that went up to an almost dress like upper body in similar coloration as the outer robe, but with green highlights at her torso.
The second girl's landing was miserable if it could even be called a 'landing'. With a yell, thump, and brief flash of green that stopped her fall before the ground, the younger girl slammed into the area beside her companion. Unsteadily, she rose from the ground, taking extra moments to stop her body from wobbling. Her outfit was a poofy green dress with several 'petal like' appendages trailing down past her knees, with a white midsection around their upper legs. Rising upward, she had a bow over her torso with the upper half of the green dress containing similarly fluffy looking shoulders.
"How did you do that?" The older girl wasted no time cutting to the chase.
"The stuff with grass and trees appearing?"
The yellow clad girl nodded, her eyes briefly shifting from Asuna to behind her, in the direction of the Vertex's presence.
"I'm not too sure why it happened, but I can erase supernatural energy like magic. It worked on those bullet things, so thought it'd work on the Vertex too. Never accidentally erased part of the world before so didn't expect that." Asuna answered, keeping her senses likewise alert for any further attacks. She sensed two more incredible powers pop up, probably Yuna and Togo, and some explosions, but who knew how long the Vertex would be distracted. "Something bad going to happen because of that?"
Asuna was answered with a pensive stare. "The Jukai is to protect the normal world while we're fighting so it minimizes damage, but it's not perfect. Damage sustained is reflected back on the real world as natural disasters. It's not supposed to get damaged that easily."
"Ah, I'm so sorry! I had no idea that'd happen or it worked like that!" Apologetic, a wave of guilt washed over Asuna, a frown forcing its way onto their face with a bow. She expected something bad to happen, but considering such a large chunk of the roots were blown up from her stunt, she could only imagine the damage. At least it looked like some forested area, if that had been more residential or even people, somebody could've died. "Promise, I won't do it again!"
The other eased up, with the younger girl that had a familial resemblance to her awkwardly and shyly sticking behind them, but expectedly it was only a little with the battle going on. "Alright, Kagurazaka-san, I'll believe you for now, but we can't risk more damage. If you can't fight without that, then stay back and we'll handle the Vertex. We don't have much more time since Yuna and Togo are already busy with it and I need to explain how to beat this thing. Itsuki! Let's go!"
Before Asuna could reply, the first girl jumped away at incredible speed with a moment's notice, briefly leaving Asuna with Itsuki.
"Er, um, sorry to leave so quick!" Itsuki apologized before, once again with far less grace than what looked like her sister, following with a jump.
With a sigh, Asuna watched the two charge into the heated battle, a few blue bullets of energy intercepting a swarm of the larger projectiles in various explosions. Orders were already being given by the oldest girl, some explanations about fighting and summoning a weapon, which netted her a massive sword a few times longer and broader than she was.
Before either of the two arrivals could start contributing, a pink form shot ahead and struck at the large Vertex in its center mass with a tremendous impact. The girl didn't even so much as slow down, barreling straight through the monster's monster like it was paper and exiting the other side, impressively leaving a hole 1/3rd the size of the center section with just the one blow. Even the other girls briefly paused, likewise taken aback by the feat it seemed.
With something like that and there being four of the group, it sure looked like they didn't need Asuna's help, but she wasn't one to sit passively by and do nothing. She could still fight and delete things even without projecting it as a passive field, it was just a little riskier. She could easily negate what she touched and energy wouldn't have any effect on her, but basics physics still worked. Even if something was magic in make, if it was solid, heavy, and moving really fast like those missiles were, that physical impact could still hurt without actively canceling it, even if the ensuing explosion wouldn't. But was there going to be anything left to fight when one attack did that?
Wait, was the monster regenerating?
Asuna's eyes didn't deceive her, the Vertex's wound was already beginning to close at a rapid pace. Not instant but still wouldn't take more than several moments to mend even that big a wound.
"It's already recovering. How are we supposed to defeat it, Fuu-senpai?!" Asuna picked up Yuna's frustrated voice demanding answers from the girl she spoke to earlier.
"Vertex can regenerate when they've been damaged. The only way to defeat them is to carry out the steps of the Sealing Ritual! Togo, cover us while I explain!" Fuu's voice commanded with an imposing weight.
Alright, the battle wasn't over then. In that case, no way was she going to sit back here as a bystander! She had something faster than any multi-step ritual right in her own hands.
Gripping her own sword, Asuna jumped on a series of roots toward the fight. She could travel far in a single bound, but even from the little movements Asuna observed, the transformed girls could travel noticeably further, even if Asuna used her own power ups.
Now in range, a few missiles started adding Asuna as a target, heading toward her alongside the rest of the fighters. Still in mid-air, Asuna used one hand to easily chop through and erase two of the missiles, not even giving them a chance to explode. Beside her, she felt a rush of energy that took the form of a blue bullet that moved many times faster than any natural bullet did. So quick it was, Asuna only had a moment to process it before it slammed into the Vertex and knocked off part of a translucent looking, almost whip like, 'scarf' near its top.
Looking back briefly for the source, Asuna spied Togo in the distance with what resembled a sniper rifle by her guess. It was had to make out too many details with her lying down, leaving only her face and part of the gun visible. That'd certainly help keep pressure on the regenerating Vertex if it became needed.
Refocusing on her own trajectory, Asuna landed a few dozen meters away from the Vertex, close to Fuu, who was busy giving commands. "Now's our chance, carry out the ritual!"
"I-I have to say all this!?" The dumbfounded voice of Yuna echoed from below, coming from the pink form Asuna had seen earlier. Yuna, by far, had the most drastic change to her appearance. Her hair was in a long, bright pink ponytail that went past her waist. She likewise possessed a similar 'coat' look as the other two girls, but colored a vibrant pale pink like the rest of her outfit. Her's was also a more 'sporty' look with generally slimmer features of less dress like, even going up to an armored piece of metal over her chest, with a red ribbon below it.
Oh, she wasn't going to wait around to give that thing more chances to attack. Wordlessly, Asuna jumped forward again with all her strength. Sailing through the air, and ignoring the confused sound from Fuu behind her, Asuna went past the still regenerating 'scarf', which made a whip motion toward her that couldn't reach in its damaged state, and swung downward with a powerful slash and cry, channeling her Magic Cancel through the blade, and only the blade to ensure no collateral damage.
Like a knife through butter, the weapon cut through the beast without the slightest resistance, perfectly bisecting it in two and causing the two halves to rapidly melt out of existence in seconds, leaving not the faintest trace there had been a 30 meters tall monster not moments ago.
"There we go, didn't even get close." With a satisfied smirk, Asuna declared, resting her sword's tip on the ground.
"Hey!" Fuu's voice called out before her presence shifted to beside Asuna. "How do you keep doing this..."
Yuna let out a relieved sigh, before quickly shifting to a positive and upbeat tone and smile. "We did it! That wasn't so hard! I'm glad Kagurazaka-san took care of it before I had to read that long chant. I've never seen one that long..."
"Yuna… You can say whatever you want, as long as you put your heart into it." Exasperated, Fuu sighed.
"Eh!?"
"O-Onee-chan, why didn't you tell us that first..." Itsuki muttered, hanging her head.
"Everyone!" Togo called out next as she drew closer, commanding the group's attention as she landed around everyone.
Though not as drastic a change a Yuna's, Togo's attire had still undergone significant change. The most striking one were the 4 tentacles coming from behind Togo's face and trailing down her back to the floor. Acting like extra appendages, they supported the normally wheelchair bound girl off the ground, her legs dangling several centimeters above it. Her lower body was covered in white leggings which hints of a blue body suit halfway up it, with the form fitting suit far more visible over her upper half, white highlights covering portions of her new look, further highlighted by her dark hair now freely flowing down to almost her knees. "We did well defeating the Vertex and protecting our country. I'm so glad everyone is okay."
"We did and managed it without corroding any of the Jukai from prolonged sealing… But there's a lot to talk about now." Fuu interjected, eyes shifting over to Asuna, who matched the stare.
"Yeah… I think we're both pretty confu-" Asuna was cut off by the entire world rumbling like a moderate earthquake. "Woah, what's going on now?!"
"Our battle's over, so the Shinju-sama is turning the world back to normal… Right, Fuu-senpai?" Togo trailed off to the older blonde expectantly.
"Yeah, that's right. Let's talk when everything's back to normal." Fuu answered lightly.
Trusting the other's reassurances, Asuna allowed the wave of light and petals to wash over her.
When the fantastic light of the Jukai faded, Itsuki wasn't sure what to expect, yet somehow, the roof of her school was not one of them. Everything was perfectly calm and peaceful, the sky was blue with minimal clouds, the mountains in the distance were the lush green of life, by all respects everything looked perfectly ordinary without a single hint of the great battle for the world that'd just taken place.
"Huh? Isn't this the roof of the school?" Yuna asked in confusion, head darting around in disbelief.
"Eh? Kaguarazaka-san isn't here? I was hoping to speak with her..." Togo sounded off, even more perplexed than Yuna, a hint disappointed as well.
True to what her friend said, the mysterious orange haired girl who'd showed up out of nowhere to help them in such dire times wasn't anywhere to be found, her strange nature gone and replaced by the normalcy of the regular world.
"What the… Why is that girl so weird… She should've showed up here too." Fuu grumbled in frustration. "The Shinju-sama should've teleported everyone back to this shrine..."
"I was hoping you might be able to explain, since you knew what else was happening, Fuu-senpai."
Fuu shook her head, sighing briefly before a more relaxed expression came over her. "Sorry, I don't have any idea about her. I probably know even less than you do if you and Yuna met her already. But, at least we beat the Vertex for now. Maybe we'll find Kagurazaka-san later..."
Itsuki liked to think she was decent at telling what her sibling felt, or maybe she wasn't if Fuu had managed to keep this colossal secret for years, but though it'd only lasted for a moment, she looked deep in thought, similar to how she'd been when asking the question yesterday about following her, which made far more sense now.
"That's right! We saw her on the way to school so I bet she's around here somewhere! And we won so I'm sure everything will work out fine!" Optimistic as ever, Yuna stated with her upbeat words before Itsuki could dwell upon the thought.
"It's almost weird seeing everything so normal again..." Itsuki muttered, taking a few steps toward the building's edge for a better look. It was hard to believe that mere minutes ago the whole island was radically different, that the club was fighting for their lives, and had to protect the whole world. The reality of what just occurred was starting to click in Itsuki's mind with calm restored, the fact she had just faced down a giant monster that could've blown her to bits. It was starting to make her hands shakey. But, at least it was o-
"Ah, I almost forgot to mention. The world was frozen in time while we were there, so it's still in the middle of class right now.
They missed class too!?
"Eh!?" Itsuki's panicking voice blended with Yuna's own.
"Well, I can just have the Taisha excuse us when I talk to them later, I got a lot to ask." Fuu muttered the second part half to herself before looking to Itsuki with kind, loving eyes. "You're not hurt, are you, Itsuki?"
"No. Are you alright, Onee-chan?" Itsuki asked, struggling to keep her voice from shaking. This was all too much for a, formerly normal, pre-teen like herself to take in at once. Giant monsters in a life-or-death battle, her sister keeping huge secrets, weird girls from out of nowhere, and then being yanked from class she'd probably need to make up even with an excuse. She almost felt ready to cry from all this overwhelming madness.
She had to be strong, just for another minute, just to make sure her older sister was okay too.
"Of course. I'm fine." Fuu proudly boasted with a smirk.
She couldn't do this anymore!
Not holding anything back anymore, Itsuki ran straight toward her sibling and squeezed them into the tightest hug she ever pulled them into, crying into her chest at reality coming crashing down on her. She had talked tough, but she didn't have a clue what she was doing in that fight and could've died back there!"I was so scared, Onee-chan! I'm so confused..."
Fuu returned the hug, helping ease Itsuki's uncontrollable sobs with several soothing pats to her head in the warm embrace. "There, there. You did well. I'll teach you something special and give you half the pudding we have in the fridge."
Any comforting feeling or interest in what that 'special' thing Fuu mentioned was erased by her second statement.
"That was mine to begin with!" Itsuki whined between her sobbing. Fuu could be such a glutton, they already ate their half of the pudding and would've eaten Itsuki's too if not for this!
She had so much to talk about with Fuu later…
Asuna had experienced many things, up to even helping restore an entire world. She had fought great monsters that could ruin armies, stared down magic users who could erase cities with the same effort as breathing, indeed there wasn't too much supernatural that would phase Asuna now.
Appearing in the mountainous middle of nowhere, when she had been in the suburbs, was very much one of those things.
Without any civilization in sight.
"Why am I all the way out HEEEEEEEEEEEERE?!"