*
"Are... Are you sure?" (Sariel)
She could have sworn that Lastia mixed up something strange into her reply, but... She couldn't focus on such trivial things at the moment. She needed explicit affirmation.
"Yup. You have to fight with us, you have to risk your life, use your new powers to our benefit. We wasted a lot of magic because of you, you have to compensate." (Lastia)
Not even she could deny Sariel from participating from this point. Everyone else would likely grow infuriated if that were to occur. The best course of action now was only to add to their war capabilities.
" She's coming..." (Taneda)
The world grows unbearably dark. The 'Event' cannot start, the super sattelite class calamity or heavenly king Fragment is able to interfere with the laws of the world, at least in a localised area covering the entire earth. The Remnant, Aster was likely able to do something similar on a smaller scale, though it had no need to.
A coal black sky that ushers in a frigid atmosphere. Light hail peppered every landmass on earth, with particularly large chunks of ice raining down here like meteors. Traces could be spotted among the numerous ice chunks, prompting the magical girls outside to engage. It's blocking the entire earth from the sun and moon with its main body.
"No good. We're unable to receive any more support. This is the limit..." (Christine)
"Also the reinforcements... Though we can call each other, they physically couldn't find us." (Taneda)
"...??" (Lastia)
Bewilderment was etched onto her face, she was too exhausted to think of ane excuse. Were her allies just incompetent? Sentencing themselves to death via an easy foolish mistake... They must have went to the wrong residential zone...?
"... Bad news... They're not stupid. Zone 2B is gone off the map.
Historically... On a more fundamental, the opponent has caused the B wards to vanish conceptually. New lines must have been drawn to encapsulate it into the other wards, especially A... " (Taneda)
Off the map...Lastia's face could only contort and twitch in shock. She felt her breath stop for a moment as she processed everything at once. Some of the others looked like they swallowed bitter pills, the ridge of their noses wrinkled in disgust and despair. First off, no reinforcements. Second off, there should be secondary effects as off this erasure of the B residential wards, administrative matters would grind to a halt from the discrepancies..
While mundane affairs were not strictly the jurisdiction of magical girls, it was a hard pill to swallow when put face to face with their own abject failure. On a monstrous and incomprehensible level, the B ward was gone, the effects of this weren't clear and the people outside... They have no memory of it. This tall wall reaching the heavens from the border of the 2B residential zone was the short lasting power of Eterna. They were the only ones spared from whatever magic happened on a global scale, because the citizens of 2B were annhilated...
It's hard to say if an 'Event' took place, chances are that the citizens are permanently dead. It took Eterna everything she had to contain the heavenly king's perception, in other words she was using her own hands to cover its eyes the moment it layed a single inch outside of the border. The 'Event'... Usually it is contained to a single residential zone, but it chronologically synced to the rest of the world after it's over...
Then the fact that it has already synced... There was no 'Event'.
"... Those who had their family perished in here... They won't remember the existence of their family. For better or worse, it sounds like 2B no longer exists outside the barrier.
Geographically, the landmass being there or not didn't matter... Administrative registration of the citizens identification status data... " (Lastia)
" Most likely gone. From the world's perspective, the B ward will be an influx of refugees from another world. Unregistered citizens... To borrow an archaic word, they will be a monumental mass of migrants.
It's just the cherry on top of this city's residents being wiped off the map... " (Taneda)
"... " (Christine)
Christine was the B ward's sentinel, she would naturally be the one to take it the hardest.
' Eve, Garcind, Lohan...' (Christine)
She discretely grit her teeth, the blood in her body flared up, almost in response to her frustration. Her regrets only continue to pile up like a mountain, a steady and intentional anger was held in like a sheathed weapon. Never lose sight of the mission, the enemy's downfall is the best way she could honour them. They were the magical girls protecting this city with their mortal bodies. It wasn't possible for Christine to respect them any more than that.
Eterna's barrier isn't able to hold on any longer. 30 minutes? A very generous estimate. However, there wasn't much that they could really do. In the first place, the enemy was far off in space, shooting long range attacks and using an avatar. It was far more intelligent than a Trace could be, leisurely causing devastation from the comfort of its own safety. But now... Since the avatar has been destroyed, it has personally come to eliminate the threat responsible for it. There was no doubt that it identified Lastia and the others who are here.
Just nice... It had now entered the range of {Swap}. Similar to a sixth sense, Sariel feels its presence tugging at the edge of her conscious, like a kid pulling on her finger or skirt. Her {Swap} is a single step process that involves both scouting the target area and the teleportation itself. Anything with a high amount of magical energy like Traces and magical girls can naturally oppose the scouting step and prevent the {Swap}. Otherwise Sariel would easily be able to snatch the limbs of enemies away without any effort. This resistance to her {Swap} can be felt by her beforehand.
What better target than the heavenly king that was even more densely occupied with magical energy?
"We don't have much time." (Sariel)
Her nose and eyes bleed, she was wringing out the last of her magical energy. Something was clearly awry, a simple {Swap} wouldn't cause this. Lastia was about to raise her voice, lifting her hand out as if to grab her. Why? It felt like Sariel was going some place far away... Her presence... Felt so minute and hard to catch. The magic inside her is thinning to nearly nothing... But she couldn't get a single word out.
"I'll bring you to the enemy. There is 15 minutes left of Eterna's blessing, defeat it." (Sariel)
The radio wave magic she gained from the heavenly king had ironically helped to gauge how long Eterna's suppression could last. It was both a dreadful premonition and a sign of hope.
" Bring the stars to the ground and invert the sky, {Swap}. " (Sariel)