*
On the way there, she might as well investigate a little more and pick up some supplies, in case she found survivors that needed them. The smog could slip into any crack, they were as fluid as air after all. What if someone had an airtight bunker? It was near impossible, the mark of an insane individual in modern society. However if it allowed them to survive, then she at least wanted to save them.
Her fingers got accustomed to jamming against the door frames and pulling out the door. Another reason she wanted to hop from building to building like this, was so she wouldn't alert the Remnant of her presence. Remaining in the black smoke naturally obscured herself, it was like a missile in a sense. It understood if it had not made contact with its target when the target is outside, but since Lastia is directly inside of it, it only understood that contact has been made but not where she was or whether she was still alive.
"This one was also a dud." (Lastia)
She searched every suit in the building, opening even the front entrance and every other door in sight. The black fog spilled out into the streets, when she closed the door they tried to slip back in through the underdoor cracks. She found it slightly amusing before moving on to the next building. Roughly an hour had passed, she couldn't spend the entire time searching every room for survivors... It would take years just to comb every apartment in this city. While she took her time searching in vain, it was possible that more victims were succumbing to this Remnant.
"... Sorry, Arin, Sariel." (Lastia)
She must be prepared to give her life, to prevent more from taken. Compared to an incomplete existence like herself, she valued the lives of others far more. It wasn't a difficult decision. She arrived at the school, having gone through numerous buildings to reach the centre of the zone.
"Nothing around here... Of course." (Lastia)
Other than the corpses of students and teachers, it was devoid of any other life. Neither the magical girls nor the Remnant was around, thinking about it... The Remnant would have digested the magical girls to evolve. Nothing would be left behind... Just like herself. She had no memories to leave behind, no assets, no position, nothing...
She stood in the open, yet the black smoke did not chase after all. The school followed the rule to an even more severe degree. Like how the buildings were filled to the brim with the black smoke, the school was completely occupied with it, even the open air areas. Ground to sky, was there even a limit? The school itself was its main body, and the remains of those magical girls dissolved into magic here.
Like a hydra bearing its 7 heads, large tendrils of dark scarlet light grew out of Lastia's back, brandishing its massive length and volume. There isn't anytime to play here, she made the naive mistake of thinking she had any power to make a difference... She believed she could at least salvage what little there is left of a tragedy that passed. Finding survivors? Hints? What a farce, a stroke to her own ego that deludes herself. She heaved one final sigh.
"Sorry. {Feed}." (Lastia)
Sorry for believing she could help more than she was capable of doing. Sorry that she couldn't help when it was most important. Lastly, sorry to Arin and Sariel for not prioritising her own survival.
The dark scarlet light grey uncontrollably as her hair fluttered into the air, massive amounts of magic energy was pouring into her body via conversion of the black smoke, at the same time the power of {Feed} also began to grow and occupy more space. A wave of dark scarlet swept past the school grounds like a tsunami, swallowing facilities instantaneously and building up even more height.
She hit her limit quite a while ago, the magic inside her body and her mind... They were no longer controllable. Both were factors needed to facilitate {Feed}, but now they flourished and multiplied like a natural disaster.
If she used all of her strength, she could cover about multiple apartments worth of volume, but a single classroom building here exceeded that scale. Yet her magic swallowed all of it, her body and mind was eroding under the massive traffic of magical energy. If she hit her limit, she could never have taken on this Remnant. So she cut it off. Her dress flapped violently under the maelstrom of scarlet light, her hair flew into the air like sails.
She stared down at her feet, her arms gently crossed. What did she think? What was she supposed to think? Maybe now she just needed to wait for her destined end. Her body had already begun to glow and dissolve into the air, fragments of her skin and clothes turn into a blinding white that float upwards like bubbles, before fading away. The scarlet light had grown from a dark tone to a lighter tint, it was far less denser than it was before even if her body was driven past its limits.
At this moment, {Feed} consumed the entirety of the school. Even if she funneled the energy into boosting her regeneration, it wouldn't be able to catch up. Moreover her body was so saturated with magic energy that it couldn't regenerate properly. Her hair begun to glow as well, floating far into the air as if she was underwater, before disappearing in graceful motes of light. Their halation lit up the school grounds like stars, fading in and out of existence.
"Eh?" (Lastia)
When did she lay on the ground? She was standing only a moment ago... She couldn't even lift her neck to check her body, but... It felt lighter. She had lost substantial mass, her organs are no longer working but her consciousness could still be sustained by magic. She can't feel her body anymore, but she could still feel... -
"Slee-... Py..." (Lastia)
Checking on {Feed}, it has encapsulated the entire school and the surrounding parameter of residential apartments. The speed of expansion had never slowed, in fact it only grew faster as its perimeter increased in area. If this was the case, she could rest easy, knowing {Feed} no longer obeyed her body and would continue on without her. Strangely enough, she felt warm. Way too warm.
Didn't her senses dulled as her nerves were overloaded with magic?
"... This will be excruciating to the highest degree. But you chose to do this, and...
The world needs you alive. {Gratitude}" (?)