*
"... Then what do we do? We're already too weak and exhausted from this battle, there's no way we're reaching space much less beating its main body." (Christine)
"... The fact that you're calm, it means you have a plan, right?" (Taneda)
Lastia grimaced, holding her wounds tighter as she decided how best to convey her thoughts. She had just survived a powerful laser attack, while she did her best to absorb everything, it still managed to evaporate all of her blood and rupture every cell in her body. Through it all, she managed to protect her brain and heart. It took a long while for her to regenerate and start walking again, but it was just enough for Taneda and the rest to defeat The Fragment's avatar.
"I don't... It's just that what you guys accomplished wasn't the least bit in vain. You've bought the world invaluable time, time for reinforcements to arrive...
Time for more options to open up. " (Lastia)
A familiar presence enters the zone, but this time overbearingly so. She wasn't particularly looking for her, it was as if her line of sight was intentionally blocked by someone intimidating. In a moment, she arrived next to the... Through the power of {Swap}.
"... This presence, you..." (Lastia)
The world's colours inverted, sending the pair into another plane. It was similar to {Anxiety}, but it wasn't the same. She changed the state of the current electromagnetic field, draining the world of the visible spectrum. There was also a barrier keeping everyone else out... Not it sent them to another dimension. Beyond the comprehensible range of the electromagnetic spectrum, only the two of them were currently existing in this state and couldn't be interfered with. That's why she could no longer perceive light.
Then, shouldn't the world be pitch dark? The only reason she could still observe her 'surroundings'... It must be because of Pandora. Though its power has mostly faded, it has discretely collected information on the residential zone, mapping it out.
"Why... Why team with The Fragment, Sariel?" (Lastia)
"If you're going to be ruthlessly annihilated in battle, then I'll kill you myself and claim you.
The Fragment has also just happened to mark you as the highest threat. It was the introduction of you as a variable that spun the battle into haywire. " (Sariel)
" Stop this... This foolishness. I can hesitate as much as you want, but I don't think even I'm that kind hearted if the battle were to start. " (Lastia)
She isn't that strong. She doesn't know. It's because she isn't all powerful that she won't know how much she has to hold back, or if going all out isn't permissible. If the fight starts... She would completely stop hesitating, and that was what she was afraid of.
"Please... With this new power of yours, you can contribute. You might be the key to solving this whole problem. You might be the strongest one, so you can help us beat it!" (Lastia)
She pleaded with all of her voice. Not even Arin was sure she had heard Lastia this desparate before. The others silently observed with slight astonishment, discretely watching on, afraid to shatter the equilibrium that was being held by this faint tension.
If only she lied. If only she wasn't all that she claimed to be. Lastia never boasted herself as infallible, she would easily perish in battle as long as she faced an A grade and above enemy. The Fragments are S grade beings. The hierarchy went a little like this: Traces ranged from E to C, Remnants from B to A. They weren't ever classified in this manner before, but this being was on a new level compared to The Remnant, Aster that it needed its own category.
If only Sariel could find it in herself not to revere her so much... Then she would be able to lift her foot back up, and let them pass. Whether they would head to their deaths or miraculously win. It's only because she could find no fault in Lastia... That she didn't want her to die by the heavenly king's hands.
"No. If you want to defeat it, you have to crush me on your own first. Quantum cascade, relentless {Swap}." (Sariel)
A light explodes in front of everyone, blinding the earth once more. The light flickers at imperceptible speeds, seemingly about to cause a secondary detonation. Then the world turned dark... Rather it had been wrapped in a sheer pitch darkness with hints of crimson.
"Yggdrasil's simulation, prototype information entity of indeterminate computation. This is the ending achieved by boundlessness, the defined limit of this universe." (Lastia)
One cannot rely on the weapons they already wield in this battle. The only way forward was to create a new weapon, to surpass the self. Pandora increases my Physical strength and movement speed to that of A grade, or 100 000 times amplification of normal human capability. Not only that, it also increased my physical endurance and stamina... That's why... Yggdrasil also faced an increase in computation capacity and evolved to this state. To be more accurate, this was an achievement of synchronising both Pandora and Yggdrasil's simulation, it wasn't possible to push Yggdrasil this far before.
In that single moment, Sariel {Swapped} a chunk of the sun and the air in front of us, the energy collapsed into itself further and caused an explosion at point blank range. But Yggdrasil absorbed all of it. A vacuum formed had caused a loud thundering eruption, now it was as if nothing had happened.
Naturally, Lastia was merely spouting off big words. A show of intimidation, Sariel had gained an unknown power so it was only fair to make her believe that Lastia had grown stronger or gain new powers since... To even the amount of information that the each of them had. It was only a marginal quantity of information, seeing as they both continue to adhere to the 'theme' of their magic. Skills can create versatile techniques, but they are constricted to their base function in the end.
{Feed} was the conversion of energy, the techniques it produce were just products of converting her opponent's attacks into magic energy for her own use. Like a stubborn tree photosynthesising with what little leaves it has. Yggdrasil was using magic to boost conversion rate, Pandora was using it to boost her physical abilities.
"You didn't think it would be so easy, would you?" (Lastia)
She lifts her arm, pointing at Sariel with fierce eyes.