*
Invoking the world government's name is like summoning the devil for these cult figure types. One call and they would begin to search for any semblance of surveillance. In certain zones, the surveillance was slightly tighter. It was all adjusted in accordance to crime rates, just as people can be diverse with culture, race and religion, crime is just another form of culture prevalent in specific groups of people. Rather the crimes form the groups, and they are monitored for further rehabilitation efforts.
Throughout time, the main objective of prison sentences was to deter recidivism. The death penalty could be seen as supporting either sides of this subject. If we kill the criminal, they have no chance to rehabilitate. If we kill the criminal, we convinced a certain margin of people from committing crimes. Which one did the world government prefer? A virtuous ideal that hoped for redemption? Or a compromise that could stop crime and save people now? It wasn't hard to guess which one they chose.
The cost of peace is heavy. Built on the corpses of countless. Only by being ruthless and unrelentless could they keep up the 11508 year old streak of peace. This streak lays upon their backs as the largest burden created by humanity. Yggdrasil won't assert that the act of killing is right. If it was Lastia, her human sensibilities would have definitely caused her to hesitate, or at the very least settle for disarming the terrorists.
Terrorists, cultists, they're all the same peace disturbing fools to her. She didn't have to hesitate, and she won't. This won't be cited as a simulation of Lastia, it'll be attributed to the cold hard efficiency of A.I. Her classmates can't tell that Lastia is gone, the law of magical girls will also protect the identity of the corpse she's possessing. Naturally, everything done today will be distanced from Lastia as an individual. The atrocities committed here are solely that of Yggdrasil.
She won't even think twice about compartmentalising the blame this way. Rather she's already felt that she has been kind but not mowing down all their heads at once. Despite the barrage of bullets earlier, she has only killed the leader and some ruffian who attempted to attack her from a blind spot. The rest cower, sheer incompehensibility paralyses them, holds them down like an invisible vice.
"Alright, if the rest of you don't wish to lose your life meaningless, stay here and wait for the authorities.
I'll watch you, and you will understand futility when your unlucky colleague tries their hand." (Lastia)
She plants her scarlet black great sword into the ground, she vanishes just as fast as she arrives. At a speed beyond human perception, she jumps into the darkness and releases her transformation. Her classmates never left, after how they saw the terrorists lose their heads, there was some fear of them losing their own lives. They weren't nearly as foolish as the terrorists that decided to rain a barrage of gun fire the moment one bullet didn't damage her.
The most suspicious element here was the weapons. Who supplied them? The person she questioned admitted their identity and their cult's ambition. They wouldn't say anything else... Did they not know...?
... Were they brrainwashed by magic? No... There's no trace of a curse persisting on them... Perhaps a magic that's taken effect and expired? It wore off, but the effects linger indefinitely... Like permanent damage or manipulation to the psyche. Memory erasure is a simple example, someone could supply the armaments and erased their own tracks within the memories of their customers. These guys likely already have such a lofty goal before acquiring the weapons...
Obviously anyone who caused havoc were somewhat off their mental game in this age of abundance. There's simply no need to steal when everything other than property is within reach. Despite undoing the transformation, the great sword remains embedded in the ground. Arin shakes her head towards that direction, questioning Yggdrasil's choices. It was a grim reminder of how powerless the cultist really were, a sign to stop resisting until the civil defence force arrived.
Soon enough, rays of searchlights phase through the area, scanning for survivors. They didn't arrive long after she embedded the sword as a show of force. Naturally they were puzzled by how the criminal cultist group was already subdued, but one glance at the sword and some of them realised something. None of them said it out loud, but they took control of the situation and promptly moved to evacuate the mall goers. It was an eccentric first day for a school trip, but at least everyone was safe. Lastia later on heard about how some of the guys boasted about the encounter to their other classmates. Needless to say, she was a little embarrassed hearing such unabashed praise.
"She was so cool!" (Aloysius)
"Those must have been very fine muscles!" (Terrin)
"I can't believe magical girls exist... I mean, there were signs, but..." (Calamine)
"She was... She was really beautiful wasn't she? Does the transformation magic increase beauty too?" (Tinsel)
There might have been some strange remarks mixed in, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. They were walking away from the mall, having just evacuated with the authorities. Lastia allowed the sword to dissipate as the last of the mall goers were safely escorted out. Normally the sword wouldn't even persist after she undos her transformation, but she's Yggdrasil, not Lastia. The rules were a little skewed somewhere.
A being fully composed of magic, information or mysticism... Whatever she was, she didn't need to transform to use magic. Lastia's transformation was to invoke the law of magical girls, to protect her identity.
"Jeez, could you stop talking about her! Can't you see you're making the rest of us uncomfortable!" (Sariel)
Their voices were immediately subdued. Tinsel felt indignant and scowled in another direction. Normally speaking, the rest must have felt a little guilt. Sariel must be afraid after having gone through a dangerous experience, that was the consideration they had in mind. Naturally, Sariel was acting. A smoke screen formed to draw attention away from Lastia's absense. Thankfully, everyone still had the sensibility to stay silent during the situation, refraining from aggravating the cultist attackers. The silence was enough to keep their attention away from checking.
This was just another measure taken to keep their minds off of the situation that transpired. Exhausted from what occurred, they safely returned to a hotel booked by the school.