“Termination Order”, a set of sentences that Mages needed to voice out whenever they encountered a dark beast, was akin to how police would show their warrant and explain themselves before continuing their search in someone’s house.
Morganite once thought it was a way to showcase the love and justice spirit held by Special Mage Armed Force before she became a Mage. However, on her first day of lectures on how to become a Mage at Headquarters, she was surprised to learn that this set of sentences was actually a notice for the dark beast, just in case they possessed intelligence and willing to surrender to avoid battle. However, none of the dark beast ever gave them a positive response, rendering it a useless step in Morganite’s opinion.
Nevertheless, she still had to perform the voicing out as this was a rule set after protests by some sort of welfare organization. There had been a strange rumor spreading everywhere hundred of years ago when newspapers gained popularity, suggesting “Dark Beast possess intelligence similar to humans, so they can communicate and possibly live with humans”, which sounded full of love and peace but also somewhat foolish. People protested, requesting Mages to speak to the dark beasts first before taking any action and urging them to integrate those dark beasts into a society full of love. Despite authorities presenting thousands of evidence confirming that there could be no peace between these two worlds, the protest persisted.
Eventually, a Sergeant suggested the Termination Order, which serve a similar function as a warrant shown to people by cops. The protesters accepted this suggestion, but those words proved useless and sometimes even provoked the dark beasts. Finally, the saints shut their mouths, though one or two idiots persisted in protesting the same theory. At least the rumors had ended, and the Termination Order remained in use ever since, both as traditions and as an excuse to silence those mouths once and for all.
In fact, none of the Mages like to voice out the Termination Order as it’s a waste of time. They might miss the chance to surprise attack the dark beast. But rules were rules, and Morganite still wondered if she needed to do so, even as she punched the dark beasts’ faces.
“Sober at once! O violent dark beast.” A bright call came from a distance, and a shot of magic strike, shining in blue hue, sending a few dark beasts that had almost broken through the gem shards barrier back into the circle. The blue strike contained magic that could slow down and freeze the target. The assaulted dark beasts, with frost on their body, stared at the top of a ruined building where a figure dressed in light blue stood straight with a staff pointing at it.
The staff held in the incoming Mage’s hand was taller than her. The magic dust that scattered from the bright blue stone indicated that the magic shot came from this staff and this Mage. The light blue cloth armor she wore reflected halo of freezing breath, “Frost dancing while sprout awaiting to bloom. I’m the eclectic blue gem, Paraiba, at your service!”
“Destruction shall be halted, and peace shall be praised. Love connects you and me, and love embraces the world!” The words echoed with a green barrier circle, repelling the frozen and slowed dark beast further towards the center of the battlefield, even hindering their attacks. The Mage who spoke wore a light green skirt with magical armor. Delicate shields made by gemstones were secured at her arms. She apparently expended more mana, evident from the sweat as she maintained the green barrier, “Bearing five virtues with unbroken blessing, I’m Jadaite, the king of Jade, at your service!”
“Repent and you shall be saved! Stop now, and we shall befriend you, but we will not back down if you insist on bringing no peace.” A refreshing breeze swept through the battlefield, purifying a portion of the dark aura accompanying the dark beasts. The Mage who cast the magic stood upright behind the green barrier. She held the mirror made of yellow gem in her hands up high above her head, increasing the mana input into it, strengthening the purified breeze and gaining the upper hand on their side. “Stick to your heart and join all as one. I’m the capricious lucky cat’s eye, Cymophane, at your service!”
“Well, well, since you insist on bring chaos, in the name of Special Mage Armed Force, we Precaria Gem Squad have no choice but to terminate you at this instance! Tear the perplexity apart and march with bravery, I’m the gem of brave violet dragon, Charoite, at your service!” A sharp blade of light struck toward a dark beast as a light purple figure leaped into the barrier, piercing perfectly into the Black Stone located at the chest of the dark beast, forming a minor cracks on the target.
The Mage dressed in purple let out a displeased “tsk” and continued to damage the same spot with more light blades using the knife in her hand, seemingly made of a purple gemstone. Despite having to dodge the attacks from the dark beasts surrounding her, her hits were precise, finally creating a huge crack before she satisfyingly retreated. She did so just in time to evade a lethal blow targeting at her, thankfully blocked by the Mage in light green dress in time.
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The purple Mage raised her head in rage, gripping her knife tightly, intending to deliver a lethal blow to the dark beast with the cracked Black Stone. However, she was too late, as the dark beast was split into two halves by a figure dressed in dark pink and black hue, with a light blade extended from the edge of their palm - a technique she was familiar with from many years ago.
Morganite, their team leader, excelled in melee combat. Her signature technique, a magical light blade extended from the edge of her palm, formed a sharp piercing weapon she named the “palm knife”. This was her trademark skill a few years ago, but she now focused more on developing a mid-range attacks and teaming up with others. Her new signature technique involved a bell made of pink gemstone attached to her staff. It emitted sound waves that blasted targets backward. Initially subtle, journalists only realized it was her attack after a year of observation, as they were focused on her staff’s magic shots and its use as a slashing weapon. This technique proved highly effective, akin to rocks hitting a glass jar each time the bell rang. The backed dark beast would experience internal damage, and for a weaker beast, three bell rings were enough to terminate them.
They knew it wasn’t their leader when they saw the palm knife, even though it looked exactly like how their leader practiced the skills, right down to identical attire, albeit different in color.
“Paraiba, cover her!”
The Mage in light blue attire, who had made a long-range attack from atop a ruined building, reacted instantly and blasted a shot toward the dark beast standing behind the figure in light pink. However, she realized something odd with the order - Cover her? Who?
“Not me! Her! The one in dark pink!”
Paraiba gazed at the individual Morganite mentioned while providing covering fire. The movement and actions of the dark pink figure reminded her of Morganite from a few years ago, and the person surprised her with a subtle yet effective magic that she had never seen before. It came from a magical weapon the size of a marker pen, forming a delicate yet intricate pentacle before unleashing a magic blast that combined black and white colors. Despite its subtlety amidst the chaotic battlefield, it yielded remarkably persuasive result.
Even though they had destroyed the Black Stone, the dead bodies of the dark beasts would linger for a while before dispersing. However, after the casting of that subtle magic blast, the dead dark beasts disappeared immediately. It was a powerful magic, far more potent than any of their lethal blows.
Paraiba immediately fired a magic shot when she saw the person in dark pink stagger, repelling a dark beast that was about to attack back. “Protect that person, Jadaite.”
“What about you?” The Mage in light green attire looked at Paraiba with concern, as she always stayed closed, guarding Paraiba during battles. If she left, Paraiba, who needed more time to prepare an attack, would have to defense herself and attacking simultaneously, leaving her vulnerable.
“It’s fine. The battle will end soon if she can keep up the pace.”
Jadaite nodded and left Paraiba after dissolving the green barrier that surrounded them. She hurried to the side of the dark pink figure, blocking every attack directed towards the unknown Mage. It was only then she realized that Morganite was doing the same thing, which surprised her, as Morganite typically played the role of the assault player while other backed her up. Besides that, Morganite seemed unusually happy compared to her usual enraged demeanor when she facing a dark beast invasion.
Charoite, observing the trio, decided to join them. After joining forces, she realized that, although outnumbered, this battle felt surprisingly easy and relaxed. It wasn’t because they were significantly stronger than their opponents, but so chill and easy. She even found her thoughts wandering randomly, a rarity in the midst of such chaos. It’s definitely not because they were far stronger than their opponent, but because they had more person on their side which possessed a surprisingly powerful weapon that was small and easy an additional ally wielding a surprisingly powerful weapon - one that was compact and easy to handle.
The battle, which should have taken at least two hours, was settled within 15 minutes -an outstanding result with all dark beasts disappearing from the battlefield.
Cymophane activated her yellow gem mirror to purify the scene and was surprised to find that the lingering dark energy in the battlefield was very low, allowing her to purify it within seconds. This had never happened before, and although she appeared calm and steady, she initially thought she might need to send a report requesting the area to be closed down for a purification process. However, now everything seemed to be heading toward a positive outcome, all thanks to the unknown Mage.
The the other four members of the Precaria Gem Squad were about to ask their leader about the situation when Morganite lunged herself toward the unknown Mage, hugging her merrily despite the dark pink figure feeling uneasy and confused. Just as they were curious about when this Mage debuted since they hadn’t received any notice, they heard the Morganites’s sobbing saying, “You’re alive...I, I’m so glad, so happy that you are still alive!”
Stunned by her words, they observed the person’s dress color, and memories of their dark replicas, similar to them but different in dress color, stormed into their minds. They finally recognized the unknown person they had once fought and befriended.
Of course, I would burst into tears too if the dark version of mine were still alive.