Chapter 6: Fifina

Ephnel was very familiar with this voice and title.

Fuurin Shion, codename Fifina, also known as “Sagittarius.”

Unlike Ephnel, who used a long spear and excelled in frontal assaults, Fifina’s “Order Weapon” was a bow.

She was responsible for long-range support and reconnaissance, and her specialties were surprise preemptive strikes and powerful support interceptions.

The relationship between Fifina and Ephnel was similar to that of a novice and a guide.
She was Ephnel’s direct junior and a relatively inexperienced “Agent.”

She had joined the “Order” for the simple, almost foolish reason of “admiring Ephnel.”
She had always trained hard with Ephnel as her goal, and Ephnel often took her along on missions to hone her combat experience and skills.

That was why Fifina always called Ephnel “Master.”

Incidentally, the weapon each “Agent” used, like their battle suit and transformed body, was unique and fixed.

In essence, they were objects materialized by the “Power of Order.”

They couldn’t maintain a physical form for long after leaving their user and would manifest in completely different forms in the hands of different users.

At this moment, Fifina was clearly in the middle of a battle.

The sounds of howling gales and explosions crackled through the earpiece.

“Fifina?”

Being able to contact someone meant things hadn’t reached the worst-case scenario yet.
Ephnel let out a small sigh of relief.

She asked urgently:

“Are you all right?”

“Eh, y-yes! I’m fine! Just a little…”

Fifina’s voice was tinged with panic.

“Communications are down, so I had to switch to shortwave radio…”

They were equipped with special communicators for battle, which had several different frequency bands for use in various situations.

Because shortwave communication was a last-generation built-in system that was easily monitored and jammed, and required pre-set frequencies, it had been almost completely abandoned by the organization.
Being able to contact Fifina through it was indeed an unexpected surprise.

“It’s great that I could reach you, Fifina. You should be at headquarters, right? Can you tell me the situation on-site? And what about the others?”

During an Erosion Disaster, communications would be blocked by the Erosion.

Most of the time, Agents couldn’t even contact commanders outside the battlefield.
That was why the position of “Field Commander” existed among the Agents.
Dispatch from outside the field was handled by the commander-in-chief, while combat within the disaster zone was fully delegated to the field commander.

But this time, for some reason, the field commander “Seiran” wasn’t responding.
Ephnel had her suspicions, but she hoped they weren’t true.

“Eh? M-Master, are you nearby…?”

“Yes, I’m on my way to headquarters.”

“Eh? …No, wait… Master… why are you here? Your injuries…”

“It’s just a small wound. Don’t worry about it.”

Fifina had been right beside Ephnel when she was injured, witnessing the shocking bloodstains and horrific wounds.
Just thinking about them now made her heart palpitate with fear.

How could that be a small wound?

“But if you don’t rest properly with an injury like that…”

“The most important thing right now is the ‘Erosion’ disaster, isn’t it?”

Fifina wanted to object but was immediately cut off by Ephnel.

Ephnel knew Fifina’s personality and didn’t give her a chance to speak.

“Don’t say anything else. I’ll be there in five minutes. Fifina, headquarters’ communications are down, and I can’t get in touch with Seiran either. Tell me what the situation is like on-site right now.”

Ephnel was naturally aware of her own physical condition.

She had a gruesome piercing wound in her waist, but after taking the “pills,” she no longer felt any significant pain.

She was confident that there wouldn’t be any major problems for the time being.

“But, Master, you… Ah!?”

Just then, a loud explosion blasted through the earpiece, followed by the girl’s short cry of alarm, and then rapid coughing and gasping.

“Fifina!!”

“Cough, cough… Master…”

The girl’s voice suddenly weakened, and Ephnel’s heart clenched.

“Fifina, are you okay!?”

After a long pause, Fifina’s somewhat hoarse voice came through.

“I’m fine…”

“What just happened!?”

“Master… It seems we’re having a hard time coping here at headquarters…”

“What are the specific details?”

“I’m sorry… Master… I… I don’t know either…”

The static on the other end suddenly subsided.

Fifina was panting, her voice trembling so much she could barely form a sentence.
She spoke in a low voice, as if whispering right into her ear.

“Headquarters’ communications went down a long time ago… ‘Erosion organisms’ are everywhere. I’ve lost contact with Seiran-san and the other seniors too. The rest of us joined later and can only fight on our own now. But there are too many ‘Erosion organisms,’ and the area is too large. We’re too scattered, even beyond communication range. Several defensive points I can see are already about to fall…”

In other words, the battle situation was unclear, command was completely paralyzed, and the status of the few core combatants was unknown.

They were only holding on by a thread with a few inexperienced rookies.

If there was anyone who could step up now, it was probably only her, their senior.

This was not good news.

But even so, she was a reliable senior.

In this city, her individual strength and practical combat experience against “Erosion organisms” were in a league of their own.

This was not a boast.

But now she was seriously injured, and it was uncertain what she could accomplish.

However, she had no more room for hesitation.

Ephnel gritted her teeth and kept moving, quickly navigating between the buildings.
In the distance, she could already see the line of cars jamming the end of the street and the headquarters building spewing thick black smoke.

She could vaguely make out several huge red-and-black flying objects hovering above headquarters, resembling whales or floating islands, letting out piercing screeches.

“Is the enemy that big thing flying in the sky?”

“There are many on the ground too… ‘Remnants’…”

Fifina’s voice trailed off.

“Remnants” were what humans became after being completely devoured by the “Erosion”—”completely alienated bodies.”
“Remnants” still retained a human body and appearance, but their behavior patterns were no different from “Erosion organisms.”

They were filled with aggression and a desire for destruction towards humans.
So far, there had been no precedent of saving someone who had become a “Remnant.”

“Is that so…”

Ephnel bit her lower lip, darkness filling her pupils.

There had been casualties after all.

She was still a step too late.

“How is the evacuation of other nearby residents?”

“The evacuation started a long time ago, but it’s getting critical now… We’re severely short-handed and have no command. Several intersections have already been breached… If this continues…”

“Tsk…”

Ephnel clicked her tongue and paused.

“Fifina, can you still fight?”

“I… I’m fine…”

“Alright then. You leave your position now and stay in contact with me. Follow my instructions.”

“Yes! Master!”

“Now, gather everyone on your end onto shortwave communication and listen to my command.”

Ephnel said.

“Leave the headquarters building and head to Seikyo Tower. With your eyesight, you should have no problem serving as my battlefield operator, right?”

“Eh…? But headquarters…”

“Leave this place to me.”

As she spoke, the sound of explosions grew closer.

The din of the crowd and blaring horns filled the smoke-laden air.

The massive floating island in the sky was right before her eyes.

Ephnel’s eyes narrowed, her gaze sharp.

“I’m taking over here!”

She stomped down hard.

The concrete beneath her feet suddenly shattered, cracks spreading out like a spiderweb.

Ephnel shot forward like a cannonball, like a meteor streaking across the sky, heading straight for the giant whale in the air.

A silver light appeared in her hand, twinkling like starlight, and formed into a long spear.

“Die—!!”

With a sharp, girlish cry, Ephnel forcefully shattered a “Stairway,” spun around, and threw the spear, which erupted in a cloud of fire as it left her hand.

A sound of tearing air ripped through the sky.

The silver light pierced the heavens, plunging straight into the body of the giant monster.

One of the three floating islands in the sky let out a deafening shriek from this blow, then slowly began to fall, dissipating into faint starlight before it hit the ground.

On top of a building, Fifina stared blankly at this scene.

On her pale little face, blood and grime were smeared messily.

Her right arm was completely gone, leaving only a bloody, tattered sleeve and a crude bandage.

She had lost an arm and could no longer perform proper emergency treatment with just one hand.

With every passing moment, her blood was slowly draining away.

“Master…”

She gazed at that bright, meteor-like figure, the admiration and adoration in her eyes undisguised.

That was her master, Magical Girl Ephnel, the most dazzling meteor in this city, and the person she respected and admired the most.

She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, turned, and ran towards Seikyo Tower.