*
Lastia wouldn't die from this much. She's a magical girl, Sariel will continue until her friend begs to surrender.
The white light wanes and the scarlet light was no longer transparent. It was pitch black... Something similar to liquid could be seen sliding under its surface... She... She's bleeding all over. But she's not keeling over, she continued to stand tall. Sariel involuntarily stopped after seeing the blood, only watching on in horror.
"... Is that... It?" (Lastia)
She spoke through laboured breathes, it's clear the toll on her body wasn't light. They were both mentally exhausted from their overuse of skills, if Sariel who dished out all the attacks was already this dishevelled, how was Lastia feeling now...?
"I outlasted the light you plundered from the sky, the late afternoon must seem so radiant right now. It's a pity I can't see it, but I don't need to." (Lastia)
Her eyes were covered in her own blood, the iron like tangy smell of blood wafts from her dress. It was excessively drenched. Her clothes were covered in more blood than it wasn't.
Sariel had a large quantity of magic, add to that was yggdrasil's peripheral terminal which managed her magical energy to a higher degree. Even with all that, with an S rank magic pool that could burn down a city... Lastia successfully endured an attack of that magnitude. The light has run out, Lastia had been buying time to completely absorb the light into herself. The light was never infinite, because Sariel's magic used to concentrate the light was not infinite.
Even the barrier protecting Lastia's body could no longer hold up. It was shattered all over, with shards piercing her skin and flesh like glass. Blood poured everywhere, staining the ground she walked on, and it was smeared over the pavement by her heels. She steps forward, her body cried with every breath, every passing second. Her flesh calls out to her, 'stop'.
She might have been bothered if she was able to listen. It was hard to feel tired with the incessant pain assaulting her mind. Sariel dropped to her knees, she had overused her magic. As the user of Yggdrasil's main terminal, Lastia could verify that she had effectively run out of magic. With a single swing of her fist, Sariel is thrown into the wall. Her defences weakened and her ribs shattered and pierced her remaining flesh.
Blood dripped out of her throat profusely, and her vision darkened for a moment before it returned to normal. Her body was healing itself with magic, there wasn't much else for her to do.
"Have... Have I proven myself...?" (Lastia)
She swallowed big gulps of air in a futile manner to ease her pain even just a little bit. Her whole body hurts, overusing her skill has caused her skin and organs to disintegrate. This left pink flesh and blood exposed to the air. It was hard to heal from burning wounds, the agony made every little movement felt like knives were pressing into her.
"... Yeah. You did." (Sariel)
She stood up and her clothes exploded into light. Her school uniform was untouched amidst the chaos of their surroundings, but the blood dripping from the ends of her lips like a vibrant rose was still wetting her chin. Her injuries were gone, the healing was accelerated, but now she could no longer transform into a magical girl for a while.
"... Are you okay? Do you need me to carry you...?" (Sariel)
For a moment she was worried that Lastia died from exhaustion. Magical girls wouldn't die to bodily harm so easily, even lost limbs could easily regenerate. But if Lastia instantly lost her life to fatigue... A dead person wouldn't be able to recover back to life. Her concerns were only quelled by the minute trembling of Lastia's lips, softly heaving small breaths as she slowly recovered.
"... Let's... Get out of here. We... Caused a lot of... Trouble." (Lastia)
She was now healthy enough to speak.
"... You can barely take two steps without falling... Cancel your transformation." (Sariel)
"But-!" (Lastia)
"No, buts. If you hurt yourself, then there's no point. Come on." (Sariel)
Her stern words were reasonably persuasive, giving Lastia a slight feeling that she could trust those very words. Perhaps she was too exhausted to argue, her combat dress burst into motes of light, leaving behind a straightened uniform. Lending Lastia her shoulder, Sariel makes a gradual getaway. The night masked their figures, at least they hoped it helped concealed themselves a little.
***
"... Not all wards have a sentinel yet... Are you- Why..." (Taneda)
"... Sentinels aren't the only S grades in this era." (Arin)
Arin sat on top of Taneda's back, the very picture of dominance exuded from her posture. With a single leg raised and supporting a lazy arm, she sighed softly as she chewed over which information she was safe to deseminate. In any case, the words she had already spoken constituted some breach of what was otherwise well kept information.
Oh well, when you are the main antagonist, you have no superior to scold you for divulging information. No one to keep your behaviour in check, no one to make you accountable.
"S grade... Era..." (Taneda)
Her credentials weren't empty, she really has been serving as the guardian deity of 1A to 100A for numerous decades. She hasn't breach 100 years yet, but her experience dealing with Traces was enough to know what was normal for magical girls and what wasn't. These information existed outside what was the usual framework of magical girls and Traces fighting an eternal battle.
There was no end to where Traces come from, they have been almost definitely attributed as creations of the natural environment, the earth's last ditch effort to curb humanity's population. Magical girls exists as humanity's inbuilt defense system, just like an immune system that fights off external threats. Knowledge on Traces, Heavenly King Traces, unique Traces, nothing escapes her.
If the magical girls fail in the line of duty, rest assured that Taneda will take care of it in their stead. So here... Meeting someone that exists outside that framework.. Finding an entity beyond her knowledge...
She hadn't felt this fear of the unknown in many decades. She lifts Arin up and throws her, before jumping down the building and concealing herself.
"... That's fine, it looks like they've wrapped up their little spat. It would be terrible if they were interrupted..." (Arin)
Completing her goal of distracting Taneda while her 2 best friends finish their little duel, Arin blends back into the darkness with a couple strides. Her figure vanishes and no one outside the domain of magic ever finds out what exactly happened that night.