Hope born of solitus

*

This time... She felt like she could easily cause gravity's hold on her body to collapse, making herself float. Muscle memory, a past Lastia must have attempted such a technique before. Then... The concept of having past and future Lastias flowed through her mind.

These feelings... Was this what they felt? What they wanted her to know? Every Lastia felt it, not a single one of them escaped from the existential dread of knowing their life ends at the end of the day. However this was a natural process. Even if everything was futile, she still exist. Breathing the thin air in the sky, seeing the dim roads that were barely illuminated with a deluge of dark grey rays, feeling the wind rushing past her skin... All of it gifted her the sensation of life. It was sufficient, it was all she needed.

The inverse of that technique, converting her excess energy into gravitational potential energy... No, she had to convert it into more downwards kinetic energy, to propel herself beyond the reaches of gravity. Her dark scarlet energy painted the sky with the [Ingestion] of {Feed} and grew into wings with [Assimilation]. Doing this with brute force would not amplify my attack's lethality, it would only increase it linearly. It also gets less effective the more I try to forcefully stack my magic on top of it.

That... Will not stop me. My body flashed through the air like a rocket, the wings are statically attached to my back, they're just decorations that hold my excess magic after all. Even now, I'm still [Ingesting] more, so even as I fly towards the ground it grows and leaves a trail behind. It's very flashy, but I'll be aiming at her blind spot, hoping it has any effect. The ground rushed towards me and I struck my target. The back of her head...

It felt like I'm being pushed back a little, amidst the chaotic torrent of dark scarlet light is a stable and smooth black blade. It can't be... She summoned a second blade to block me, and she isn't even holding it with her arm. Her {Anxiety} can be shaped into a blade, and it can be affixed to empty space. Even now she was fiercely exchanging swings with her opponent's spear, giving no leeway to amateurly use a second blade. She could only use it against me because of my immobility...

More, I will put more into this. This attack would not stop growing. A crack forms on the black blade following a thunderous echo, a few more of such echoes accompanied it, rapidly increasing in frequency. She noticed it and promptly stepped away, the other magical girl exploited that short time she took her attention away and thrusted her spear. The Remnant turned her body, barely dodging the brunt of it, a small gash forms on her waist due to a graze from the spear.

*BAM*

Smoke and debris explode outwards, obscuring all within. A small fireball wraps around everything, an explosion caused by Lastia's collision with the black blade. With a sharp thrust, the other magical girl pulls back her spear, causing a massive wind pressure that swept away all of the debris. Lastia's figure pokes through the retreating smoke, walking towards the other magical girl. The Remnant... Was nowhere to be seen. Colour returned to the world gradually, blood red spots floated in the air many kilometres away, gradually growing denser and larger.

Until... Their skin and clothes appear. It's as if the natural frequencies of the world was slowly returning, sending information to the minds of this pair of magical girls in multiple waves. The comforting stillness of the night returns, a familiar sense of slight breezes and dusk cold crawls over the two. Lastia walked towards her, her stride bobbing laterally. Her gait was wobbly, and her muscle were weary.

She reaches breathing distance, the other magical girl grabbed her arms and caught her fall.

"... I'll... I'll trust you for now. You see, I have a curse. I can't remember anything after midnight." (Lastia)

"Haah~?! Are you kidding me? Isn't it a little too selective? You're still aware of your curse and you retain the ability to speak." (?)

Likewise, the other party couldn't trust her at first glance. The Remnant had 2 conspicuous ogre horns, but other than that they were indiscernible from another magical girl. What if Lastia was also one in disguise? One acting weak so that she could eat her prey later? She remain guarded, her arms ready to close in for a hug at any moment... And snap her neck off.

"... Beats me. If I knew... I wouldn't be living such a pathetic life. Always fearful of the next day." (Lastia)

The other party sat her down at a nearby wall. The battle took a clear toll on Lastia, if possible she didn't want to move at all for a while. Just having woken up and immediately thrown into a battle, the culprit in question simply fled away. While her body might be physically and magically fine, using {Feed} continuously beyond her limit would destroy her mentally. Getting off with just a migraine was incredibly fortunate. In the worst case, she could die.

"You were knocked out for roughly half an hour. When you came to, your memories were gone. My name is Ray. I came from Urumahi Highschool at the centre of Erupi commercial zone. We received notice of a Remnant roaming in the adjacent zones so we patrolled around just in case. " (Ray)

"... You're strong. You don't need to break anything to match up with her. I didn't know magical girls could get this strong... It gives me reassurance. " (Lastia)

After all, it would have been far worse than disastrous if she had faced The Remnant alone. Ray's presence had saved her life.

"... I would like it if you didn't think I got this strong instantly. It's possible for any magical girl to reach this level...

It's just that reality isn't kind enough to give others the chance to grow stronger. The amount of time needed to train, the amount of time before a strong enemy beyond imagination shows up. That's why... I'll always be here for other magical girls. " (Ray)

Even if she was cautious of Lastia, it didn't stop her from being unbelievably kind. It felt like if Lastia kept her eyes off of her, she would disappear somewhere far away and never come back. It was a weird disposition to take with a stranger she spoke with for the first time. However, a clear set of determined eyes gaze at her. How pure, they're just like jewels.