Magical Girl Ocean's Whisper raced along the edges of the town walls, her eyes focused intently on the battle below. Chaos Beasts surrounded the town of Willow Creek, their monstrous forms casting a shadow over the frightened populace.

"Hydro Spear Torrent!" she called out, her voice resonating with authority as she raced across the ramparts.

Instantly, a dozen glowing, watery projectiles surged forth from the tip of her trident. They whistled through the air and pierced multiple beasts, felling them instantly. But more kept coming.

She breathed heavily, her shoulders heaving as she surveyed the scene before her. Chaos Beasts continued to race at the town's walls, relentless in their assault. The militia fired rounds at them from the safety of the ramparts, their faces grim with the knowledge that their loved ones were sheltering below.

Despite being the oldest among the girls present, Ocean's Whisper had only managed to achieve a C-rank as a Magical Girl. She was entering the typical 'prime' for a Magical Girl, which usually overlapped with a normal human's athletic peak. It was always a sore point for her, but she made do with the talent she had.

Her long, turquoise-blue locks danced in the wind, and her strikingly bright blue eyes scanned the horizon for any approaching threat.

She was a veteran of countless particularly nasty Chaos Events at this point, and her abilities and leadership had always made a difference. Ocean's Whisper made up for her lack of lumina and physical talents with her personal nature and strategic mind. She was a team player, not someone who hogged the limelight or stole kills at the end of the day.

A prickle of anxiety crept down her spine, and her instincts caused her to spin on her heels only to see a streak of purple lightning shoot by. She balked in horror as Shihan and a winged chaos beast crashed to earth in a fiery, thunderous explosion.

Shihan landed hard on the cobblestone streets below, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction as a massive shockwave radiated outwards. The chaos beast was hurled even further back, crashing into a distant building with a deafening roar of anger. Ocean's Whisper felt her stomach drop at the sight of the chaos beast, its monstrous form exuding a dense, palpable miasma of chaos energy.

Ocean's Whisper hesitated, glancing briefly at the portals surrounding the town, where ayakashi, beowulves, and other horrors poured through, their numbers multiplying with each passing moment.

Flameburst Aria was still tending to the fleeing civilians, her voice echoing through the air in a haunting melody that soothed and offered the terrified townsfolk limited protection.

She made her decision.

"Shihan!" Ocean's Whisper shouted, launching herself toward the battle.

The air was thick with dust and debris, making it difficult for her to see. With a wave of her arms, she summoned a powerful gust of wind that cleared the air. Through the settling dust, she saw the battered Magical Girl struggling to stand at the crater's center.

Ocean's Whisper's heart clenched at the sight of Shihan, cutand bruised but refusing to stay down. The chaos beast loomed over her, its eyes glinting with malice as it prepared to strike again.

Without hesitation, Ocean's Whisper leaped into action.

"Nereid's Embrace!" she cried out, conjuring a shimmering, spiraling shield of water that enveloped Shihan just in time to deflect the monster's crushing blow.

Blood dripped down Shihan's face, mixing with the sweat that coated her skin. She paid it no mind as she readjusted her stance, every muscle coiled like a tightly wound spring.

Her aura blazed a fierce purple as she exhaled sharply, channeling all her energy into one powerful strike. "Senko no Ken: Ryuugekisai!" she shouted, unleashing a devastating palm strike that struck the beast square in its abdomen.

The impact was deafening, shattering windows and quaking buildings. The ground beneath them cracked and crumbled under the sheer force of her attack, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

But the creature barely flinched, staggering back slightly before regaining its balance.

"What?!" Shihan gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief. Its malevolent gaze bore into her, its tendrils lashing out like clutching claws, ready to ensnare and crush the martial artist.

With a catlike weave, she ducked beneath the first tendril to strike at her and jumped back to put distance between herself and the creature. The air sizzled as more tendrils shot toward her, but she dodged each one effortlessly, the wind from their passing rippling through her clothing and hair.

"Shihan!" Ocean's Whisper's concerned voice cut through the chaos as Shihan found herself standing beside her ally once more. Ocean's Whisper's eyes darted to the chaos beast, analyzing the situation with a trained eye.

"It's too strong for one Dragon Shatter," Shihan muttered, frustration lacing her voice as she wiped a trail of blood from her chin. Ocean's Whisper glanced at her with a look of determination.

"On your six?" Ocean's Whisper suggested, raising her trident.

Shihan's eyes flickered with acknowledgment as she nodded curtly. "Yeah," she replied.

The martial artist rushed forward once again, her fists glowing with a radiant purple light. As the beast lashed out, Shihan weaved between the tendrils like a dancer, striking each one with calculated precision.

Shihan suddenly sank down into a low bladed stance, her aura flaring as she seized a brief opening.

Ocean's Whisper immediately recognized it as the starting position for Shihan's Shadow Dance technique. She had seen it countles stimes in her time training with practitioners of the style.

It was the ultimate technique of the Flash Fist school passed down to Shihan by her mentor - the legendary Magical Girl Mikage no Kimi.

"Kage no Mai: Ichi Sho!" she roared, kicking off with a flash of light. Her body seemed to distort, splitting into afterimages as shimmering shadows surrounded her.

"Ni Sho: Yami no Senpu!" she cried, her body spinning rapidly as her foot connected with the beast's midsection, sending ripples of energy through the creature. The beast roared in frustration as it lashed out with its claws across Shihan's torso, only to meet nothing but a shimmering mist.

"Got you!" Ocean's Whisper called out, spinning her trident in intricate patterns.

The shimmering water surrounding Shihan shifted and twisted, creating multiple illusory copies of the Magical Girl. The beast hesitated, briefly glancing in Ocean's Whisper's direction, sending a chill down her spine.

But for some reason or another, it ignored her, its eyes darting between the illusions as it struggled to identify the real target.

As the chaos beast stumbled, trying to discern which of the six illusory Shihans she'd created was real, Ocean's Whisper took her chance, channeling her lumina through her trident.

"Parting Waves — Ocean's Edge!" she shouted, her trident glowing with a bright sapphire light as she struck the cobblestone streets.

A tidal wave of water surged forward, crashing into the beast and momentarily engulfing it in a swirling vortex. The creature howled in fury as it struggled against the force of the water, its tendrils thrashing wildly.

Shihan took advantage of the opening, reappearing with a battle cry above the beast. "San Sho: Kage no Kiba!" she shouted, her fist descending in a blur of purple energy.

The punch landed on the chaos beast's skull, causing a shockwave of light and energy to erupt from the point of impact, blasting the beast into the ground below.

The impact was massive, leaving a large crater in the streets below as dust and debris filled the air. The aftershock sent a wave of destruction through the area, knocking signs and cars aside like toys. Windows shattered, and buildings groaned from the strain of the impact. Ocean's Whisper watched with bated breath, hoping for a sign that the beast was defeated, but her hope was short-lived as a menacing glow emanated from within the dust cloud.

For a moment, it almost seemed like the beast's shadowy form would dissipate into the darkness from which it emerged, its tendrils shrinking back as the beast seemed to be absorbed by the very ground it lay upon. However, a moment later, it rose once more, towering above Shihan, its red, demonic eyes now burning with a sinister intensity.

"Impossible," Ocean's Whisper whispered, her grip tightening around her trident. "How can it withstand such a devastating attack?"

"It has to be at least Marquis Class, maybe even stronger!" Shihan growled, her breath ragged as she prepared herself for another assault. "There's no other way. We have to take it down. It'll tear the town apart, and then the whole district will fall in a domino effect. It'll open a huge gap for the beasts to push through the whole line."

Ocean's Whisper's heart pounded in her chest as she watched the beast regain its strength, its tendrils slithering over the rubble as it rose to its full height once more.

And suddenly, the tendrils shifted.

Shihan's eyes widened in surprise as the tendrils suddenly warped and appeared above her, lashing out at her with surprising speed and accuracy. She narrowly avoided the first one, feeling it brush past her face as she leaped out of its reach.

The second tendril came at her in a blur of motion, but she was able to deflect it with a quick, precise lumina-infused parry with her arms. But the third and fourth tendrils were upon her in an instant, wrapping around her arms and legs with a bone-crushing grip. The martial artist screamed in agony as the tendrils cut deeply into her flesh, her once-vibrant purple aura fading rapidly.

"Thalassa's Caress!" Ocean's Whisper called out, summoning a torrent of pressurized water that surged forward, cutting through the air like a storm of blades. The water sliced cleanly through the creature's tendrils and loosened its grip on Shihan.

With a cry of desperation, Shihan twisted free and propelled herself forward, swinging her leg in an axe kick aimed at the creature's chest. The creature recoiled from the impact, emitting a low, gravelly growl of irritation as Shihan kicked off and landed yards away, already in another stance.

The sound of water splashing and distant gunshots from the townspeople created a tense backdrop as Ocean's Whisper quickly assessed the damage. Shihan was shockingly cut up from just a few short exchanges — her movements were still sharp, but the strain was evident in how she held herself.

Despite her best efforts to remain composed, her once movements were now agonizingly slow and jerky, betraying the immense strain she was under. Crimson streams of blood poured out of her mangled form, staining her already-soaked battle regalia in a sickly shade of red.

This was bad. No, it was worse than bad.

The sheer power required to effortlessly pierce through the luminal aura of a close-combat specialist like Shihan who was a respectable B-rank Magical Girl suggested their opponent was at least Count, if not Marquis class.

The aura of a Magical Girl was a shimmering shield capable of protecting her from physical and metaphysical damage alike. It was the manifestation of a Magical Girl's power and was intrinsically linked to the hope and faith she could evoke in others and herself.

For centuries, magic researchers had tried to unravel its mysteries, but despite their best efforts, its exact properties were still unknown. Some speculated that it operated through some sort of bioelectricity, while others believed it was a divine gift from the heavens. Magical Girls in dire situations — such as holding off a major horde from their hometown, were known to perform borderline miraculous feats straight from myth that defied all reason and logic. It fueled a Magical Girl's spells and protected them against chaos corruption and other negative supernatural forces. Beyond its defensive properties, the luminary aura also enhanced their physical abilities.

Most attacks against a Magical Girl would either bounce off or leave some kind of superficial damage on their body, such as cuts and bruises. Thankfully, superficial injuries like that would be quickly healed at the expense of depleting their aura.

However, if an attack surpassed a certain threshold relative to her remaining lumina, it would pierce through the aura and deal lasting damage that wouldn't be immediately healed. Injuries that weren't covered by its immediate healing properties would persist into a girl's civilian form and could even become permanent if the wound was beyond her maximum capacity to return from.

Magical Girls could fight through injuries that would cripple a normal human, but as more damage accumulated, it would consume their aura more and more rapidly. When her aura was depleted, her powers would cease to function, and she would be left defenseless, vulnerable to any enemy.

Shihan was visibly winded, her luminal aura humming weakly as the creature eyed her again, its tendrils twitching menacingly. Her once vibrant purple aura had dulled to a muted maroon, and the wounds she had sustained definitely weren't closing quickly enough.

"Shihan, we need to retreat!" Ocean's Whisper shouted, her voice thick with concern.

The martial artist spat blood onto the ground, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she glared at the monstrous creature before her.

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"We can't," Shihan bit back. "It'll leave the north wall exposed and the innocent people will be slaughtered. We have to finish this thing here and now."

Ocean's Whisper locked eyes with the wounded warrior. She could see the determination in Shihan's gaze, the fear of failure, and the pain etching her aura to its absolute limits. It was risky, but her gut told her Shihan was right. The defenders would break ranks and flee if they saw the creature attack the wall, leaving the town at risk of being overrun.

"We'll give it our best shot, and if that isn't enough, we'll fall back and find Ingenue. Alright?" Ocean's Whisper stated firmly.

Shihan nodded, her gaze never leaving the monstrous creature. It stomped forward, tendrils whipping through the air like an aerial dance of death.

"Here goes nothing, then," Ocean's Whisper grumbled, trident at the ready. "Poseidon's Will!"

A surge of water erupted from the ground, swirling around Ocean's Whisper and Shihan as they prepared their attack. The water glistened in the lamplight, forming a vortex of shimmering liquid that encircled them, ready to be utilized.

"Shihan, I'll support you from the side. Set up your finishing move — we'll take it down here!"

Shihan grinned through her pain, her aura flaring with a brilliant purple light again. "You got it, Whispers. Let's show this overgrown rat what we're made of."

The powerful energy of Ocean's Whisper focused inward, enveloping Shihan in a protective layer of water. She summoned all her strength and flared her aura to its highest. She knew she couldn't afford to hold back. The air crackled with anticipation as the two girls prepared for battle.

Ocean's Whisper's Signature Magic shared similarities with Flameburst Aria's, making her the perfect mentor for the rookie.

She was able to conjure water and imbue it with her mana, allowing her to manipulate its nature in various ways. It'd never been as effective as she wished in combat against chaos beasts, but she had more than a few tricks up her sleeve.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Shihan lowered into a sprinter's stance with determination in her eyes. As she did, a vibrant purple aura erupted around her hands and feet, swirling and coalescing together.

"Let's do this…" Shihan growled, and with a sudden, explosive burst of energy, her aura erupted around her like a living storm, caught in the palm of her hand.

She exploded, darting forward in a deafening purple explosion, her fists a blur of motion. "Senko no Ken: Yonsen Tsume!"

The combined power of Ocean's Whisper and Shihan's illusory techniques created a hypnotic dance of shifting shadows and glimmering reflections, stunning the beast and throwing it off balance.

Ocean's Whisper watched as her companion gracefully darted forward, her fists moving with blinding speed as she delivered strike after strike to the chaos beast.

The beast roared in pain and fury, its massive body swaying under the relentless assault. With each impact, the ground shook violently, echoing the intensity of their battle. The air was thick with the smell of saltwater and sweat, and the sound of crashing waves almost added a percussive bass to their clash.

"There's the opening!" Shihan shouted, winding her weight back as she prepared for her final strike. "Kage no Mai: Hissatsu—"

The air around the street suddenly grew heavy, as if the atmosphere was holding its breath in anticipation of what would come.

The feeling of something wrong lingered in the air like a shroud of impending doom.

Ocean's Whisper felt a prickling sensation along the back of her neck, a warning from deep within her soul that Shihan was in mortal danger.

"Shihan! Look out!" she shouted, raising her trident in alarm.

As the words left Ocean's Whisper's lips, the beast's form shifted again, its dark energy coalescing into a hardened obsidian-like shell that sprouted new tendrils. Shihan's brief moment of hesitation allowed her to pull her punch, deftly leaning back to avoid a sharp tendril that erupted from the ground.

"Shit!" Shihan cursed. With a hiss, it lashed out, its massive claws slashing through the air as more tendrils erupted from the ground. Shihan dodged and weaved, her movements a blur as she evaded the creature's strikes.

The creature almost seemed to shrink by about a quarter of its size, its dark mass condensing into a more compact and agile armored humanoid form.

Shihan yelped in surprise as the creature closed the distance and ducked low, sweeping its legs in a powerful kick that sent a wave of water cascading around them. She was barely able to leap back across the street, narrowly avoiding the hit.

"Impossible…" Shihan breathed, her eyes widening as the beast settled into an unmistakable, familiar stance.

"That's…" Ocean's Whisper looked on in horror and disbelief as the creature's hands began to glow with an orange aura.

It raised one hand forward and settled in a low stance, mimicking Shihan's starting position for her Shadow Dance technique, causing both Magical Girls to tense with alarm.

The monster had become eerily human-like, with eerie orange eyes that glowed like flaming orbs. The swirling shadows around where a human's mouth would be also seemed to form into cruel, smiling lips.

With a guttural roar, the creature lunged forward in an explosion of orange, its movements eerily fluid. Shihan barely had time to react as it unleashed a barrage of picturesque kicks, each blocked hit sending visible shockwaves through her bones.

Shihan spun and dodged, her body contorting into impossible positions as she tried to keep up with the creature's blistering attack. The martial artist jumped and flipped through the air in a butterfly kick, her body a blur leaving shadowy afterimages.

As she landed, she unleashed a flurry of rapid-fire punches, her fists a blur of purple and blue enhanced by Ocean's Whisper's magic. The creature's body language was etched with surprise as she whipped an enhanced hook kick, slamming into where its neck would be and staggering it.

For a moment, it seemed like she was gaining the upper hand. Her strikes connected, each one landing with a satisfying impact. The creature staggered back, its form flickering and distorting. With a burst of speed, she backflipped and darted forward, executing a lightning-fast strike toward the monster's center of mass.

But just as quickly, the tide turned back against their favor.

The creature's body contorted, compressing into a smaller, more human-like form. Its movements were lightning fast, as its wicked tendrils struck out and ensnared Shihan's helpless limbs in a suffocating web. A scream of agony echoed through the air as the tendrils squeezed tighter, slicing deep gashes into Shihan's flesh with their razor-sharp edges.

"No!" Ocean's Whisper shouted, her heart pounding in her chest. She surged forward, water swirling around her as she prepared to intervene.

The beast's eyes glinted with malice as it settled into an eerily familiar stance. In the blink of an eye, it unleashed a devastating palm strike, the air around it rippling with raw energy.

"Senko no Ken: Ryuugekisai!" it roared in a monstrous, distorted echo.

Ocean's Whisper barely managed to summon a swirling water barrier before it hit, partially deflecting the strike from Shihan. Even then, the staggering force behind it sent her flying, crashing through the wall of a nearby house, debris flying around her like a cloud of smoke and dust.

Shihan's scream echoed through the streets as she was launched into the air, her body crashing through several buildings.

"Shihan!" Ocean's Whisper called out, her voice breaking with worry. Without hesitation, she vanished into a puddle of water.

She reappeared behind Shihan, catching her just before she could slam into another wall. The impact of their combined momentum sent them skidding across the ground.

The martial artist was battered and bruised, her aura flickering weakly. Blood dripped from her wounds, staining the ground. Ocean's Whisper's heart ached at seeing her companion's injuries. "Shihan, hold on," she whispered, her voice filled with concern.

Shihan coughed, wincing in pain as she tried to sit up. "I'm... I'm fine. Just peachy," she muttered, her voice strained. "We need to... get back into the fight."

Ocean's Whisper shook her head, her eyes scanning the battlefield. "No, we gave it our best shot. We need to regroup with the others. This thing is far too strong."

She mentally cursed their situation. Their team lacked heavy hitters other than Shihan; even with Ingenue, they would be in trouble. Shihan was almost out of the fight entirely from just a few short exchanges, and Flameburst Aria was focused on supporting and shepherding the fleeing civilians with her song.

"That thing… that thing talked. Have you ever heard of a talking chaos beast before, Whispers?" Shihan spat again, her voice laced with disbelief.

"Never, technically," Ocean's Whisper replied, her concern for Shihan's well-being growing. "But it's not just the talking that has me concerned. That thing… it seemed oddly intelligent? Like a..."

Ocean's Whisper's thoughts raced as she tried to comprehend the situation. The only Aberrants that explicitly demonstrated true high-level intelligence were the Emperor-class Aberrations, which had only appeared once every fifty to eighty years since the nineteenth century.

The Imperatore of Civilization had fallen on Earth twelve years ago, slain by the previous woman to hold Radiant Rhiannon's title as the world's strongest Magical Girl, and it was far too early for another to appear.

The chaos beast also hadn't targeted her directly during the battle. Why? It would be obvious to target someone like her. Someone who was by no means as skilled as Shihan in close quarters combat.

This creature was nowhere near the scale of an Emperor, but something about its behavior hinted at a level of cunning and strategy that Ocean's Whisper had never seen in an Aberrant before.

She briefly considered the possibility of the beast getting a handle on her Signature Motif. The Daughter of the Sea King. Had it deduced going after her was a waste of time?

Shihan's eyes flickered with frustration, her breath ragged. "I worked on those moves for months… and that thing copied them like it was fucking nothing!" she snarled, her fist slamming into the ground as she tried to stand.

Ocean's Whisper whipped her head around, searching for their enemy. But, to her surprise, the chaos beast was nowhere to be found.

The battlefield was eerily silent, and the atmosphere was thick with tension. Had it really left the area? Why would it abandon such an advantageous position in their fight?

"More importantly, where did it— where did that thing go?" Ocean's Whisper's voice trailed off as she scanned the streets, her heart pounding with fear and concern.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the beast's shadowy form clashing with another figure in the air — Ingenue.

The coquettish Magical Girl was locked in a desperate dance with the monster, her segmented chain whip flicking out precisely to keep the beast at bay. Her movements were fluid and graceful, but Ocean's Whisper could see the strain in Ingenue's eyes, the cracks in her usual confident facade.

She was the highest-ranked Magical Girl in their makeshift team out here, but Ocean's Whisper knew she had a reputation as a mid-range fighter. Ingenue wouldn't last long against an opponent that could take down Shihan in close combat with such ease.

Ingenue surged back, her whip cracking through the air like red lightning as she created distance between herself and the beast. The creature lunged, its tendrils slicing through the air with deadly accuracy. Ingenue twisted and turned, narrowly avoiding each strike.

Her usually playful smile was replaced with a furious grimace, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as she drew an eastern short sword, narrowly meeting one of the beast's tendrils in a clash. However, the strike knocked her off balance, causing her to careen through the air.

The chaos beast roared, lunging towards Ingenue before she could recompose herself. She barely had time to react, her eyes wide with fear as the beast grabbed her by the throat. Ingenue's once-confident demeanor was shattered, and her face twisted in pain and fear. Her segmented chain whip fell uselessly to the ground.

"Shihan!" Ocean's Whisper shouted, her voice filled with desperation as she summoned another torrent of hydro spears and directed them toward the beast.

"I'm on it!" Shihan called back, taking off into the air in a flash of purple.

But the creature barely flinched as her spears exploded against its armored back, its focus locked on Ingenue.

With a quick, brutal motion, the beast's tendrils skewered Ingenue, impaling her through the chest. A muffled scream echoed through the night as blood splattered onto the ground.

The beast pulled back before brutally slamming Ingenue into the ground, her body hitting the cobblestones with a sickening thud. Ocean's Whisper's heart clenched as she saw the dazed, lifeless look in Ingenue's eyes, her whip falling limply from her grasp.

"No!" Ocean's Whisper screamed, her voice echoing through the streets as she raced towards her fallen comrade. But before she could reach her, the beast's gaze shifted, its eyes locking onto a new target.

Flameburst Aria.

Their group's youngest and most vulnerable member stood on a roof at the edge of the town square, with her hands still sweeping across her instrument. The protective barrier she had woven with her music shimmered around the townspeople and around her body, but the strain was evident on her face. She looked up, her eyes widening in terror as the beast rushed towards her through the air. Flameburst Aria frantically grabbed onto her instrument, leaping back over the edge of the roof and onto a lower one, her song faltering as she descended.

"Go!" Shihan shouted, taking off ahead of Ocean's Whisper. "Ingenue will be fine. Her Signature makes her really fucking hard to kill!"

Ocean's Whisper didn't have time to think of respond as the beast lunged at Flameburst Aria just as she reached the ground, knocking her to the earth. Before Ocean's Whisper could reach her ally, the creature twisted its tendrils around Aria's legs, yanking her off the ground. Flameburst Aria's protective barrier shattered like glass beneath the beast's assault, leaving her vulnerable and screaming in desperation, focusing her lumina into a tight shield in front of her.

"Come on, come on!" Ocean's Whisper cried out, her voice breaking with fear and concern as she took to the roofs, hopping over to catch up.

She pushed herself to move faster, her body a blur as she tried to close the distance.

But the beast was faster. Its tendrils fanned out in a massive dome, aiming to skewer the young Magical Girl as its tendrils pushed through her fiery barrier like a knife through butter.

"ARIA!" Ocean's Whisper's scream tore through the night as she watched, helpless, as the beast's web of sharp tendrils collapsed around her.

The world seemed to freeze as Ocean's Whisper's heart shattered into a million pieces. There was no way she could reach Flameburst Aria in time.

It was her duty to protect Aria from harm, but she would fail her just as she failed Ingenue. Just as she failed her younger brothers.

In that moment, when all seemed lost, when despair enveloped her being, Ocean's Whisper felt an unexpected surge of energy. A silent whisper echoed through the air, like the faintest stirring of wind.

"Soleil Levant."

Ocean's Whisper spun around, her eyes widening in shock as she saw a stream of golden lights piercing through the darkness of the night. Each stream targeted a tendril with precision, scorching and disintegrating the tendrils instantly.

Aria's screams and the crunching sounds of metal and torn flesh rent through the air as one by one, the tendrils were severed. Flameburst Aria fell limp from the roof, her instrument clattering onto the cobblestones in a shower of flaming motes. Ocean's Whisper coiled her body up, ready to pounce and catch her dear friend and protege.

Right before she could act, a brilliant, gleaming light streaked across the sky and surrounded the injured Magical Girl. Ocean's Whisper barely had time to process as the radiant light swirled around her and appeared at her side. The Chaos Beast flapped its wings in disorientation, landing on a nearby rooftop and turning to face Ocean's Whisper. It snarled warily at her, the tendrils across its body poised to strike as it looked beyond her. Ocean's Whisper followed the monster's gaze, her eyes widening in shock.

Blonde locks danced in the wind from beneath a small beret as her eyes landed on a petite figure standing next to her, holding the equally diminutive Aria in her arms. Her golden eyes were stoic and unwavering, displaying little emotion as she met Ocean's Whisper's gaze. She wore tactical yellow and black attire, accentuating her slight frame, her presence commanding despite her small stature.

Flameburst Aria let out a groan in her arms, her eyes fluttering open as she saw who had caught her. Recognition dawned, followed by a flare of anger.

"You..." Flameburst Aria spat, her voice trembling with a mix of pain and fury. Her hands clutched weakly at Hana's uniform, her fiery spirit undiminished even in her wounded state.

Shihan's reaction was immediate and visceral as she landed beside Ocean's Whisper. "Hana of the Dawn," she snarled, her voice a raw mixture of rage and shock.

Blood dripped from her clenched fists as she took a step forward her eyes blazing with hatred.

Hana's expression remained impassive, though a flicker of pain and regret flashed briefly in her eyes. She gently set Flameburst Aria down, her movements careful and deliberate.

Flameburst Aria's anger surged, her voice rising despite her injuries. "Monster…" she hissed, struggling to sit up. "Why… why are you here? Haven't you done enough?! Why are YOU of all people here??!!"

Aria shook off Hana's hands and sank to her knees, her eyes blazing with fury and sudden tears as she nursed an open gash on her shoulder.

Hana took a step back, her composure cracking for the briefest moment. Her hands trembled as she nodded, acknowledging the pain echoing in Flameburst Aria's screams and words.

With firm resolve etched on her face, Hana turned to face the chaos beast, her eyes hardening once more. The golden-haired Magical Girl extended one arm to the side, causing shimmering golden motes to swirl around her fingertips and coalesce into the handle of some sort of weapon.

Hana's weapon materialized before her, a massive Earth-style firearm made of gleaming gold metal with belt-fed ammunition. Its barrel was longer than she was tall, emitting a faint hum as it slowly spun around.

Mesmerized by the sight, Ocean's Whisper watched as Hana leveled the weapon at the chaos beast with unflinching determination.

"This one will be your opponent," the golden-eyed Magical Girl said coldly, her voice echoing through the streets as she faced the obsidian monster.

For a moment, Ocean's Whisper just stared, her heart pounding in her chest, her brain uncertain of how to react to the exotic firearm as its spinning barrel began to spin rapidly.

"Say hello to Hana's little friend," the Magical Girl hissed, her fingers tightening around the trigger.

Ocean's Whisper quickly raised her trident to lend her aid.

But before she could even call upon her magic, a deafening explosion tore through the air, engulfing everything in painful scorching heat and blinding light.

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