*
How? What kind of face am I making now? A mere selfish and greedy girl, I'm lashing out right now, aren't I?
"!? Tia!" (Arin)
"Ugh..! Sorry, I shouldn't have spoken too much..." (Sariel)
The two huddled closer towards me, as if shielding my crying face from the outside. I don't have to see it anymore, it's trailing down my cheek. A familiar warmth, even if I never experienced it before, the body has. Or was I too emotionally wrecked to make any sense of my memories? It feels like a blur, a dangerous haze wrapping itself around my mind.
Not only passion nor my face, my entire body was heating up.
"!? Stop! Why are you doing this?!" (Sariel)
My skin is lighting up, it's emitting a supernatural radiance. It's a byproduct of magical energy reactions, magical energy is so incredibly dense, and it can do so much after all. It's released as light, as a form of waste.
"We're in the middle of a street! Why are you transforming now!" (Arin)
I'm sorry, I couldn't control it after all. Ah... I feel like I'm going insane, my emotions in a wretched state, they crush each other and scatter as if in a car's engine piston. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why couldn't I be the one to uncover anything? Not even a single crumb of evidence, absolutely null. Ah~...
The light shatters like glass and scatter into the wind, fading into obscurity. My dress, my presence... It's as if everything was bare for everyone to see. {Feed} bursts out of control, scarlet purple tendrils stretch in every direction, greedily consuming the magic in the air. They're like roots, crawling deep into the sky and ground, spreading a deep foundation over the cultural mini zone. Then even further.
Artificial Magia Reactor, 'Leyline'. After the body's experience in zone 42A with the Black Death embodiment of Fog, it had subconsciously seeked out a way to repeat that experience with a higher level of efficiency, in order to once again reach that level of power. Instead of spreading [Ingestion] over every bit of volume of a place, it had instinctively reached a shape similar to that of plant roots, to occupy less volume but absorb the same amount. To temporarily store the magic outside of her body and use it at any given moment like a reservoir or a dam to be activated for hydropower energy.
Akin to an undercurrent, an imaginary river of energy, likened to the roots of yggdrasil and found in myth, a 'Leyline' is forced into existence.
I will start by shattering this planet, the emulation of legends will become even more real than the stories themselves, bridging me towards the core of history. If I can... If I extend my grasp beyond magical energy... If I could absorb information and compute it all at once...
The maybe, I would have a chance.
I can't take it. I can't take it. I can't take it. I can't take it. I can't take it. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I will grow unimaginably huge, powerful, I have to. I can't lie to myself, I'm afraid of the endless darkness ahead. I don't care about past Lastias, now that I have the ability I will take on the world to grasp my truth. I don't care about future Lastias, the only Lastia that matters is the one that's standing in the present. When I reach the ending I want, there won't be any 'future Lastias', only a singular me. That's why... I can't stop now.
My body is encased in the same roots, in a single minute I was completely buried and an opaque scarlet black. My roots have spread underground, they continue to rush the drainage systems and the electrical grid, spreading throughout the city in the most efficient way. Exactly the same way water and electricity is distributed. To cut cost, architects and construction workers had to be efficient in their blueprints. I merely took advantage of what they left behind.
I need to be discreet, but that's an impossible task. Anyone who could sense magic would know I was the epicentre of my roots. Then... I should fortify instead. The roots swallow me layer after layer, they absorb magic from afar and build up further and further. The mental strain from using my skill is encroaching, I'm reaching the limit... I don't have the healing that the other Lastia received from Pelenia, but I have the experienced that's been carved into my body.
My roots are dried up, they cannot hold too much volume or my mind would be overwhelmed. However, they are still sturdy. The area around my immediate vicinity is already pitched black, formed from numerous layers, it had come to resemble a tree trunk. Some of it had stretched into the sky like small branches, absorbing magic out of the air. I'll grow stronger. I'll absorb not just magical energy, but everything.
Traces won't be able to form with no ambient magical energy. With more power, I could increase my computing power and start to absorb memories.
"Oi... Can you hear me...?" (Sariel)
"..." (Lastia)
She... She swapped places with some of the roots covering Lastia's body, she was less than 5 metres away from her. It almost shocked Lastia, she was ready to retaliate when Sariel began to start talking instead.
"No, of course you can hear me! Your hearing has been enhanced! The transformation enhances all our senses too!" (Sariel)
"..." (Lastia)
Lastia's hostility was gradually mollified. But if Sariel said something she didn't like, she was still ready to skewer her without. A second thought. Her hostility was natural, she was in a fragile and protective state after all.
"Haa~... Was it something I said? If so, I'm sorry... " (Sariel)
"..." (Lastia)
Her face shifted for a moment before recovering her composure. It had happened so fast that Sariel couldn't tell if she was hearing things, amplifying that silent chaos.
"... Please stop causing chaos to the city. Grab my hand, I can teleport. We can still run from this scott free. No one has been hurt, no one will hold anything against you if you back out now. They wouldn't even bother investigating and finding out who it was. " (Sariel)
She thought for a moment, a smile grazed her cheeks like the blooming of a flower. She wondered what Arin was doing at that moment, was she doing well?
" I'm sorry. I can't do that. Even if I have to kill. " (Lastia)
One of the roots passed through the side of Sariel's waist, unleashing abhorrent volumes of blood.