Hope born of solitus

*

"ARGH!?!!" (Lastia)

A mix of blood and drool shot out of my mouth, the shock made my eyeballs feel like they turned inside out. My entire field of vision turns hazy and can't seem to get out, I stretch my arm in front of me but can't see it clearly. My eyes felt more like a wall of stain glass obstructing my sight, I could no longer observe reality. She... She wasn't weakened, was she hiding her strength? I was deceived too easily... It looked like her magic was weakened from her smaller aura, I didn't know you could suppress your aura and hide your strength from others...

Right... There isn't such a convenient situation where she was weakened... If she was, she wouldn't attack me in the first place, and would instead recuperate somewhere else. Without another pause, the next blow rained down, then the next, and then after that. Blow after blow, like a water fall smashing me to a pulp, my bones bore numerous fractures already. I was well on my way to valhalla when the relentless barrage of punches stopped.

An odd sound creaked just outside the crater that formed under me, it sounded like a metal beam bending and struggling to support some weight. I hurriedly healed myself with the energy I collected from {Feed}, tearing my own eyelids open to see what was going on. A new magical girl, she must be a local who was nearby and alerted to the Remnant's presence.

Initially the point of pulling me into her magic territory was to avoid other magical girls from interfering, this way the Remnant could easily pick off magical girls one by one without risking herself too much. This was assuming that no one was aware of her location nor that they could enter this space...

Her blond hair shimmered brightly in this monochromatic world, tied up into a single ponytail. Her outfit was similar to a ballet outfit, though there isn't as many frills. It was a leotard with a skirt that opened at the front. Though little of her skin was exposed thanks to her leggings, the leotard section made her outfit look similar to a bunny suit or a swimsuit, wedging towards the centre of her legs. The skirt flapped to the sides and grew longer towards the back, like a chicken's or a peacocks tail feathers. Below her exposed shoulders sat some puffy arm bands, 2 belts wrapped around on each of her back arms and stretched far behind like a whip trailing behind her.

In her grasp was a red spear, the tip was comically large making it look more like a shovel. However it wasn't as well endowed as a shovel, the tip was a one sided blade positioned towards the left.

The Remnant's fist was intercepted by the spear before it landed, giving Lastia a chance to recover and seek out the situation. The clash lasted for a few more seconds, neither side budging. For a short moment the spear shifted forward, as if the incoming fist was losing strength. Though the unknown magical girl knew better than to assume such optimism. Sure enough, in The Remnant's other palm, a sword appeared and swung down without pause.

She pulled back her arm so she wouldn't hit herself, Lastia jumped away just as the sword emerged into reality. It slid through the air without resistance, slamming into the ground as the blood red spear was similarly put away. A thunderous sound echoed as the crater which Lastia wa previously laying in expanded to 4 times its original size.

"... You... Thank god you could still move. If The Remnant ate you and grew stronger, I don't know if I could even handle it." (?)

"Ugh... It still hurts like hell though, think you can handle this on your own?" (Lastia)

Without giving her a chance to reply, The Remnant's figure vanished from Lastia's sight. This time she was giving it her all, if she had just ambushed Lastia like this from the start, she would have died. Lastia had only met it for the first time today, but she couldn't help but sense this incongruity, it permeated her bones and shook her mind, screaming for answers. A deep sense of curiosity set in, at the same time she recognised that it wasn't completely black and white. If Lastia didn't give it her all, regardless if The Remnant was holding back or not for some higher purpose... She would have died.

It still posed a danger to her life, nothing would change that. She rapidly healed with {Feed} and begun to amplify her physicality further, but there was a hard limit to it that would never allow her to reach A grade. At least not without training. She hadn't ever seen anything above A grade in her life, not that she would live particularly long enough to witness it. There was around an hour or less left before the day would change, there was no reason to waste time. Her choice was obvious, she wondered if it was another Lastia would they have chosen to do something else?

The mysterious magical girl intercepted the sword with her spear, causing a plate of wind to slice outwards, leaving a deep but thin crevice in the middle of the road. It looked minimal at first, but it cut as deep as the newly formed crater. The Remnant was intelligent, but it hadn't spoken at all. Was it still moving half based on instinct like a wild animal? In that case the difference in treatment was clear, it was the disparity in the amount of energy she used between 'hunting' and 'surviving'. In other words, she looked down on Lastia.

While the sword and spear was caught in conflict, Lastia moved as fast as she could, even faster than before. She channeled her strength into a solid footing next to The Remnant and swung her arm into the side of her waist. If not for all of her strength and attention being taken by the mysterious magical girl, she would have effortlessly intercepted this attack.

A deep bellow of flesh on flesh impact rang out, the floor cracked under her feet, but she wouldn't budge. Was Lastia's strength that insignificant?