*
"Hiding? Even your tricks can be cleaved apart by justice. {Wrath}, Judgement of the collective." (Vinia)
With her words, every signal received a slash from head to toe. Rather since they were inside the Oblivion Magia, the entire sub dimension was cleaved apart. White light exploded and swallowed the place whole, leaving nothing but blinding brilliance.
"Just how many different techniques does {Wrath} have?" (Lastia)
Fortunately this all encompassing attack doesn't have the same soul cutting edge. She could withstand it with sheer guts, but she had to retract the disseminated information to reinforce herself. She put more distance between them, the Oblivion Magia is still up yet it wasn't an instant victory, it's crazy how strong the opponent was in enemy territory. But in here even if the debuffs don't work on the enemy, the buffs still work on her. She doesn't have a limit to her magical energy, even if the output remains at A grade.
When the light subsided, Vinia was nowhere to be seen. She was either above or below since Lastia retreated to maintain distance, so she leaped upwards and prepared a swing with her great sword. She reinforced her blade with {Envy}, causing it to glow an ominous red. If Vinia wasn't above her, then she's below and behind. The best move was to gamble and gain high ground.
Sure enough, she was right there flying towards her. Perfect, she shot condensed magic beams towards Vinia. Her computing power was enough perform parallel casting, raining large pillars of red light from numerous directions to blanket fire. Vinia sliced apart the beams that got in her way, never slowing her momentum save for the stray shots that graze her skin. In the next instant their blades clashed, normally {Wrath} would allow Vinia to slice clean straight through, but...
"{Envy}, assimilate." (Lastia)
She had fought Vinia in her dreams so many times, she got used to Vinia's movements and habits. The very reason why Vinia would lose lay the nature of their magic, like rock paper scissors it was a disadvantage that normally couldn't be overcome. She assimilated the soul slicing edge at the point of contact, causing red light to explode violently. Shrapnel from both their swords mercilessly batter into Vinia's flesh. With her blade half shattered, Lastia decapitated Vinia.
Vinia herself was damaged by the soul slicing edge, still enchanted on the shrapnel. Lastia assimilated her weapon and made it explode, with the properties of {Envy} it merely bounced off of her own skin. Her Oblivion Magia contracted and she returned to reality, her magic didn't leave a corpse behind. After decapitating Vinia, {Envy} recycled the body for resources.
If she used an attack she could damage spiritual bodies since they're just made of magic, and her skill can fire magic beams. But living things were different, a pure spiritual body like demons are easy to recycle, a mixed bag like a living thing such as Vinia was near impossible. The best she could do was break down the body, the soul instantly left to reincarnate when she died. There wasn't even a chance to make contact to prevent that.
She was back in the throne room, that opulent display of gold and jewelry. It was eerily silent, even her foot steps faded into the desolate halls, crushing her with solitude. The first beings she met in the mystery era met her with unbridled hostility, enemies to mankind. It was clear now, she was part of old humanity, the war ended with old humanity's defeat. How could one person reproduce and continue where the rest of civilisation left off? She is the last, and she has to accept it.
In this life, did she have parents? Did she have family? Loved ones? In her current life in the abundance era, she had no family. Falsehoods were planted in her mind, giving the illusion of a normal upbringing, but it wouldn't surprise her if everything up till her years in high school didn't exist in the first place. She could have been born with a developed body and mind with memories of growing up fabricated in her mind. How would she challenge that notion? Interrogate Arin? She can't.
As much as she liked to parade as a powerful magical girl and guardian to humanity, she's very much accurate to her age. Even if her age now is a little ambiguous with questionable veracity, no, maybe age is also an excuse. She's just afraid, afraid that questioning the status quo would cause her to lose Arin and maybe even Sariel.
She can't see the future or the past, she doesn't have as much experience in interacting with people as the other two, it's all a scary unknown to her. She couldn't stand the thought of being alone, so she grasps tightly onto what she can see. The present. The truth is a social construct, if it stood in the way of her friendship then it was nothing more than an obstacle. Something to be destroyed and pushed deep into a forgotten corner.
Was this proof she developed a dependency on those around her? For her existence to be validated by the presence of those closest to her, her biggest fear would then be to lose them, more so than losing herself. She was just a coward, someone who couldn't stare at the obvious truth in the eye, someone who would preoccupy herself with fruitless endeavours over pushing Arin for answers, that much was certain at the very start of her journey as a magical girl.
She has her memories now. They bring her comfort beyond reprieve, they tell her that she's real and very much alive. They tell her that she is loved and worth fighting for. They give her courage, strength, and all the sweet things in the world pushing her back, to continue on even if she could no longer meet those that she cherished. How did she feel at the time, when she didn't have these memories from the future to sooth her? The Lastia from a previous life... Might have felt unbearably lonely. She dreads to imagine the worst, but after defeating Vinia she might have taken her own life.
Her steps don't feel too heavy nor were they light. They walk on with purpose and intention, determined to carve a future for herself. Perishing here would be unthinkable, now that the answers to the past lay right in front of her eyes. She merely needed to overcome the curse and then her dreams to reach here. Not to mention none of this would have happened if she didn't manage to awaken as a magical girl. All of these miracles line up in this singular life to birth something much more precious.