Her head was deformed from the blow, and the red blood gushing from her body turned black as the poison spread. Still, she remained alive. Only one of her eyes remained; the other had been crushed in the last attack. Tinged with purple, she used this eye to glare hatefully at the two women standing before her.
"What an unpleasant outcome. You won... but I'll leave them a gift~" The purple glow disappeared, leaving only an amber eye that watched the world with sadness and pain.
Both Séraphine and Élodie sighed, feeling the air was lighter. Since the beginning of the fight, they had felt an unusual pressure on their bodies and the constant gaze of a being they could not quite discern. Now, with their apparent departure, this had come to an end.
"I... I just wanted to save my husband. I don't want to justify myself, but there's something I want to tell you," the woman said, struggling to speak. Although she wanted to see her husband one last time, she knew it was impossible.
So, she decided to expose the people who had dragged her into her current situation. She still remembered how she had ended up in this situation and how someone had taken advantage of her vulnerability to manipulate her. Using that rage as fuel, she endured the weakness that lingered in her body.
"There are cultists in Blume. Real cultists.... what happened here was just a test.... yes, I realized in the end that they were using me as a test subject.
This ritual was to absorb the energy of souls and save my husband... I have no justification. I ask you to destroy it and free the captives.... and destroy the cocoon hidden in this house." After saying these words, the light in Mirian's eye dimmed. In her last moments of life, the woman had one final thought.
'The best thing would be... to end it all.' Her mind stopped, her heartbeat ceased, and the once-alpha, a powerful enemy that both the witch and the warrior had faced, died.
As Mirian's body fell limp to the ground, a purple flame emerged, causing the women to recoil in fear of being hurt. The fire consumed the werewolf's body. When it extinguished, only a bit of ash and a star-shaped piece of crystal remained on the ground.
"Accept my gift~! You won't be corrupted if you hold it. I hope you find it useful~. We're not enemies, you know? I hope you'll be more open when we meet~. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Inferos' voice was heard again, and just hearing it caused Séraphine and Élodie to assume combat stances.
But after several minutes with nothing happening, they stopped being alert. The witch approached the starry crystal, whose material was tinged with deep purple, almost black.
She activated her Vision, but it didn't detect any spiritual energy, marks, or anything else dangerous. She bent down to pick it up and instinctively understood how it worked, but this realization paralyzed her.
'The Inferos are so mysterious and capricious... are they my enemies, or do they just enjoy causing trouble?' Séraphine wondered, looking at the ritual circle in the middle of the room.
"What does that thing do?" asked Élodie, awkwardly approaching Séraphine. The witch shook her head and kept the crystal inside her witch's hat while keeping her head down.
"Nothing. Luckily, it has no spiritual energy, and it doesn't look corrupted. I have a good pair of eyes for that," the witch pointed out. Her green eyes caused the blonde to tilt her head slightly, as if not quite understanding her companion's sudden strangeness.
"You must know more about this than I do, but don't trust spirit creatures," commented Élodie, scowling at the ritual circle.
Although she had no special vision, she could feel the negative energy and constant coldness rising from the construction. Séraphine had calmed down a bit, but she was still mentally debating whether to use the object the Inferos had left her.
Not only because the spirit creature who gave it to her was dangerous, but also because of the context in which she received it. However, the object's functionality far outweighed the ethical and moral questions of its use, so her mind constantly debated options.
To divert her thoughts, she approached the center of the ritual and noted the supposed emblem of the Inferos species much better. This had not been recorded in any of the lore she had learned, so she tried to understand the symbol and the ritual's functionality much better.
"The spirit creatures are... strange. The primary issue is the corruption that energy from that world brings when it reaches ours. It affects bodies and minds, but most importantly, our way of thinking differs greatly from that of those entities.
That Inferos... may be my enemy, friend, or companion. I don't know. But he showed me how to find answers about an event in my past. I'll start by remembering and analyzing this ritual. But damn, I hate it when they play with souls," Séraphine complained before deciding on her next move.
She could not purify the building, but she could free the souls inside. She smashed the key points of the ritual and clasped her hands together, casting a new spell.
This gesture allowed her to calm the aggrieved and tortured souls. The witch's aether interacted with the trapped entities, allowing her to feel their gratitude.
Their gratitude was no small thing. Séraphine and Élodie could feel the coldness of the atmosphere clearing a little, and their exhaustion subsiding.
"I hope they can reincarnate in peace," the witch murmured with her eyes closed. She felt the ghosts heading far away, to a place she could not perceive.
"May Mother Light hold them in her embrace," declared Élodie, making a gesture similar to Séraphine's as she silently dedicated a prayer to the entity.
"Speaking of Mother Light... we need to call those guys." After finishing her spell, Séraphine looked at the police, who nodded.
"The nuns and paladins working in the tower, right? I haven't met them yet. I didn't expect to meet them today," commented Élodie before walking toward the first floor, where there was a phone they could use.
𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝
Using the phone in a completely corrupt house, with a storm of spiritual energy raging outside, was not a good idea, especially when you expressed your desire to purify it.
After running away from walls that twisted into terrible mouths, carpets that turned into tongues, and tentacles that sought to trap them, as well as pipes that looked like huge worms with sharp teeth that wanted to engulf them, they understood the message for next time very well.
"I will never, and I mean never, get into a place like that again," growled Élodie, brushing bits of disgusting saliva off her body and feeling a strong urge to vomit.
"At least we were able to communicate with the Tower." Séraphine took a handkerchief from her hat and wiped her face. However, seeing how sticky her body was, she knew her actions were insufficient.
"I think we can help you with the dirt, Séraph," a voice said from behind the witch. The latter turned around with a smile on her face.
"Sophia! You arrived quickly," Séraphine greeted the woman standing in front of her, accompanied by others.
Sophia was slightly shorter than the witch. Her hair was deep blue, and she had red eyes and pale skin. She wore a tight-fitting black-and-white nun's outfit.
She held a golden staff in her hand. The top of the staff was a ring containing a crystal that glowed in a warm white light. The underside of the staff was a black-painted spike that she leaned on as she stood.
Behind Sophia were figures in black robes, each holding various technological tools. One figure was carrying what Élodie identified as a powerful flamethrower.
This man fired a jet of fire at the wasp hatchling that Séraphine had kicked hours before, burning it completely. The pair of Grim who had been snooping nearby now kept their distance, watching the humans with their orange eyes.
"We were nearby when we heard about the possible cult. We were sent ahead of time. Those people... were corrupt, weren't they? That man still is," Sophia pointed out to Gerard, who had been taken into custody by one of the women's companions.
"Yes... my Vision lets me see the tides of spiritual energy over this house. I interrupted the ritual that channeled it, but the corruption has completely permeated the house," Séraphine said, pointing to the dirt on her body. Sophia covered her face with her palm and laughed.
"Will you let me help you?" the nun asked tactfully. When she heard those words, Élodie moved uncharacteristically quickly toward her, putting her face very close to Sophia's.
"Please! I can't stand the stickiness on my body," complained Élodie, causing the nun to nod.
"Yes, I don't want to travel spit-stained. It's not my style at all," added Séraphine. Sophia laughed again before raising her staff.
"Then... let me channel the power of Mother Light upon you." The nun's eyes narrowed slightly as she said those words before sketching a smile and gently waving the object in her hand.
Séraphine critically assessed the woman's actions. She was someone Séraphine could consider a friend. Her mind inevitably began to run through her knowledge on this subject.
There were mages and witches, who were capable of using magic; warriors, who could enhance their bodies with energy; and alchemists, who could process and catalyze different materials.
These three professions had different names depending on the region in which they were practiced. Still, they were fundamentally the three ways mankind could harness the power generated by the resonance of their souls and the power produced by that method: the aether.
Among talented and untalented people, there was a small group who could tap into the power of outside entities, especially Mother Light, rather than generating this energy themselves.
She was a powerful spiritual entity considered benevolent towards humans. Her existence was widely known, but, unlike other powerful spiritual beings who induced the creation of cults or spread corruption, Mother Light was different.
There was no cult in her name, only the purest belief and devotion to her. There was no religion, cult, or worshiping institution. She deposited tools in the world that could extract and process her power, enabling those special humans to channel her light safely. Sophia was one of them.
They referred to themselves as nuns and paladins, though technically, they were workers for the Tower or a government agency, depending on the country.
Séraphine felt no envy when she saw her friend control this power. She was already a glamorous witch. However, she was always interested in the entity's light. Every chance she got, she observed the purification process Sophia was undergoing.
'I must take advantage of this moment, just in case,' thought the witch. Just in case, she took out of her hat the object gifted to her by the Inferos, attracting Sophia's gaze. However, the woman concentrated on the power channeled by her staff.
Soon, a beam of light covered Séraphine and Élodie, wiping away the saliva coating their bodies and the faint traces of spiritual energy seeping into them.
"You are done. You are purified," Sophia declared, looking particularly at the crystal in the witch's hands. However, she passed by, focusing her attention on the cottage in front of her.
"Now it's time to purify this building," the nun said, raising her staff high again. Concentrating her will on the object, she drew the power of light into its white crystal, making it emit a dazzling glow.
"It's always a sight to see the purifications," said Élodie. After patting her cleansed body several times, she watched Sophia's actions with interest.
"Yes, it's much better than the magical purification I know. That's barely effective against dead spirit creatures and mild corruption. Only the power of Mother Light can handle something like this," commented Séraphine as she put the crystal away and reflected on all she had learned and experienced that day.
She had many things to process, including the power of light she had just felt. But that would be later. Now, she wanted to see how Sophia would respond to the corrupted building.
The house quickly transformed into a huge monster that began to growl after sensing the powerful light the nun was channeling.
It had become a monstrous house! The warm smile on Sophia's face quickly turned contemptuous. Under the watchful gaze of those present, she pointed the top of her staff directly at the building.
"Purify yourself!" Under her shout, a cannon of light erupted from her weapon and slammed squarely into the front door of the cottage. The door had transformed into a snarling mouth, reacting to the combination of light and spiritual energy.
A pillar of light enveloped the building. Underneath the building, chunks of crimson energy peeled off the walls and dissipated into the atmosphere as the light permeated the structure completely.
Soon, the energy emanating from the staff dissipated, revealing a fully purified cottage before everyone. However, one of its windows had shattered, and a Killer Wasp hatchling emerged, floating awkwardly.
"EAT!"