The police had to admit that Séraphine was quite attractive and seemed to miss no opportunity to prove it. Although she thought about this for a long time, she barely spent any time in the real world.
She had just swung her warhammer heavily toward the floor, crushing a mimic that had tried to emulate a sword. The force of her blow cracked the floor.
The room itself shook from the blow, but Séraphine was used to it. She quickly threw a punch at a mimic trying to imitate plate armor. Though the feel resembled metal, her fist shattered the replica's chest before hammering down hard on its head.
Élodie took note of this and kept moving, sometimes firing her pistol at key moments and other times swinging her big hammer at the floor or wall. She had become a wrecking machine, smashing everything in her path.
Due to the corruption, the mimics' blood turned black, and they smelled worse than corpses, quickly making the place stink unbearably, but the women didn't care.
The mimics took diverse and surprising forms during the battle. Séraphine even cut up a flying sex toy with her rapier, indicating that that particular mimic was used for those purposes or had come into contact with such objects, neither of which made the situation pleasant.
They not only simulated objects, but also living beings and people. Luckily, they did not resemble children, but they did resemble the cultists, goblins, and bees they had killed before. The most problematic mimic was the last one.
When only one remained, and victory seemed almost within reach, the last enemy transformed into a gray wolf the size of a horse.
"It seems to mimic the mistress of this place," said Élodie, breathing slightly agitatedly from the continuous effort she had endured.
Enhancing her body with aether came at a price. Élodie tried to be thrifty, but the strange things the mimics turned into made her expend too much energy.
"An appetizer, then, of what we'll be faced with if words don't work." Séraphine narrowed her eyes, ready to act at any moment.
"I've had fellow lycanthropes in the military. Let me take the lead." The policewoman positioned herself in front of the witch. At that moment, the wolf came hurtling across the shattered, corrupted room, straight at her.
The witch deftly took a few steps back, watching as Élodie stopped the beast's advance, using her hammer for protection, and then kicked its head hard. Then, in a demonstration of her police skills, she emptied the rest of her pistol's magazine into the animal.
Black blood splattered from the animal, but it continued to attack, trying to bite and claw at Élodie. However, she was like an impenetrable wall, preventing the wolf from harming her or Séraphine.
The wolf had tried to approach the witch on several occasions, perhaps considering her an easier target. Although the wolf was agile enough to avoid being hit by the blonde's hammer, it was always cut off and hit with kicks or fists.
Séraphine watched the fight, taking note of the blonde's risky, ever-changing fighting style, which she had learned during her time of service. Although the witch didn't ask the blonde's age, she guessed that she was probably in her early 20s.
'Twenty years old, and she looks like a master of hand-to-hand combat,' thought the brunette, intrigued by the situation. She watched the fight with increased anticipation.
However, the fight ended relatively soon. After injuring one of its paws, the wolf's agility decreased enough that it couldn't avoid having its head smashed by an aether-coated warhammer.
"It doesn't compare to a real lycanthrope. If anything, it's slightly better than a normal wolf," said Élodie, as if answering Séraphine's unspoken question about why it won so quickly.
"A copy will only be a copy," commented the witch, who had already put her rapier away. After the death of the last mimic, the room regained its pre-corruption appearance.
Séraphine knew this was an illusion, but it was better than hearing the cries of pain from the cracks in the floor. She decided not to complain.
"The house...the corruption in it's too high. It has transformed it deeply, it has given it a certain sensitivity," said the brunette. This made Élodie stand on guard again, looking warily at the walls of the room.
"Corrupt buildings are the worst," the policewoman growled under her breath. Séraphine gently put her hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. It's all under control for now," Séraphine said softly to calm the blonde.
This simple gesture made the blonde visibly relax before she lightly shook off the witch's hand. This gesture only made Séraphine smile slightly before she unlocked and opened the door that had been closed earlier with ease.
"From the outside, you can see that there are two floors. We should look for the stairs. Surely that's where the person we're looking for can be found," the witch said, indicating the stairs. Then she walked out the door and explored the corridors.
The policewoman was left alone for only a few seconds before following the brunette. Inside, she still had some doubts, stemming from the strange sensation she felt when Séraphine touched her earlier.
The duo explored some rooms on the second floor but found nothing relevant: no attacks, no ambushes, and certainly no valuable clues to help them solve the situation.
Except for the initial attack by the goblins and the later attack by the mimics, the place simply looked like an ordinary cottage. However, this only exacerbated the sense of danger the women felt.
Séraphine would rather fight in this tense situation a thousand times over. Meanwhile, Élodie easily recognized what was going on: someone was using the absence of danger to put them at a psychological disadvantage by playing on their expectation of an enemy who had not yet arrived.
Recognizing this, she moved to Séraphine's side because she had noticed the witch's nervous state. With a smile on her face, the blonde put her arm around the brunette's neck. As they walked, she began to chat.
"Don't worry. We'll probably have to fight when we get to the second floor. This situation is just part of some mind tricks to pressure us," said the blonde. Her carefree tone helped Séraphine, who had encountered this situation for the first time.
The witch looked carefully at the policewoman. Although she didn't feel uncomfortable with the woman's closeness, she found it odd that she was so good at clearing people's minds.
"Thank you," said Séraphine, and the policewoman feigned surprise, widening her eyes and blowing out air with one hand.
"By Mother Light! I didn't think Blume's most prominent witch would apologize!" commented Élodie, mockingly retaliating for all the times Séraphine had scolded her.
Although the police acknowledged that she had made some mistakes due to her absent-mindedness, no one likes being treated like a foolish child. Thus, she had held a grudge against the witch for a while.
A self-critical smile appeared on Séraphine's face, but she simply shook her head and kept walking. Now, however, she felt much more relaxed.
Noticing how calm her new companion was, the blonde woman also smiled slightly. However, she didn't separate her body from Séraphine's and stayed next to her, keeping her arm wrapped around her neck.
After checking an office-like room where they found a strange cocoon wrapped in cobwebs, they found the second-floor staircase, which was difficult to locate.
The interior design of the cottage was strange to them both, but at least they had reached this point. The two separated cautiously, and Élodie took the lead, holding her warhammer in both hands as she climbed the stairs.
Séraphine followed her, her rapier drawn, attentive to whatever might happen. But when they reached the second floor, a sudden darkness swept over the area, causing them to lose visibility.
"Hehe~! So the Witch and the Warrior have arrived! Come on~! Come to die!" a hoarse female voice called from the distance. A blue flame flared on the wall, dimly illuminating a long corridor.
"They seem to be welcoming us, though they wish us harm," said Élodie, trying to joke around at this tense moment.
"Well, if we were anywhere else, I would have fled long ago," Séraphine replied shamelessly. Since she was already there, she decided to advance to the end.
A piece of wood sticking out of the wall like a torch served as the source of light, emitting a barely warm blue flame that provided just enough illumination for them to make out their figures.
With each step they took in the wide hallway, another one of these makeshift torches sprang from the walls as if the house itself were organizing the atmosphere for the meeting of the two women with the central figure of this place.
Their footsteps echoed on the wooden floor. After walking down the unusually long corridor, probably caused by a spatial deformation resulting from the building's corruption, they came to a huge room.
Darkness shrouded the room, but they could both sense something here: a presence breathing, watching, yearning. They heard a loud, deep breath, and Séraphine resisted the urge to activate her Vision to find the creature. She sensed it would reveal itself.
More of those makeshift torches covered the walls of the new room, and gradually, light filled the space. The most striking feature of the room was a large ritual circle made of fresh, liquid blood.
More remarkable, however, was the huge beast in the middle of the circle. It was a lycanthrope fully transformed into a werewolf. Standing four meters tall, it had dense gray hair, amber eyes, and a terrible smile that revealed its huge teeth.
"Welcome, Little Hoods," growled the creature, waiting for a response from the women. None spoke.
Élodie was tense and ready to fight, so she remained silent. Talking during a fight was taboo, and she had already made mistakes on this mission. She didn't want to make more.
Séraphine, on the other hand, looked at the main symbol in the center of the ritual circle: an inverted cup covered with roots. Only this time, it was made of human blood.
The witch's body froze. Her mind tried to remember something, but she resisted. At that moment, her eyes glowed green, activating her Vision.
What she saw made her burn with anger. Tearful faces appeared in translucent figures with open mouths, screaming silently. They were specters, reflections of souls trapped on the earthly plane for one reason or another. On this occasion, she could easily tell why.
Purple roots ran through these poor entities, twisting into their figures and imprisoning them in the ritual circle beneath the wolf woman's feet. Worst of all was the laughter she could hear coming from nowhere. It had a mature, sensual, delicate tone that made her skin bristle.
"Do you like what you see, my beloved Visionary? ~" They are crying with pleasure~! Wouldn't you like to join them? After all... I smell one of my own on you. It seems it was one of my kind who gave you that little gift~" The voice ended with a long, booming laugh, which brought Séraphine out of the trance caused by her ability and forcibly deactivated it.
"Hey, witch, get your act together! This werewolf woman is an alpha." Élodie shook Séraphine's shoulder, finally making her react to what was in front of her.
The lycanthropic woman had dropped to all fours, opening her huge mouth toward them and wagging her tail excitedly. Her eyes watched greedily at the girls' bodies. In her raspy voice, she spoke.
"I want to taste you~! Your flesh must feel soft, right? It looks so springy and firm~" the creature growled before pouncing toward them.
Her powerful claws screeched as her huge, heavy body ran over the wooden floor, making it creak in her wake. Although the creature looked dangerous and imposing, Séraphine and Élodie waited for her, ready to fight.
This time, the police received no reproach for proceeding; she was best suited for the task. The blonde's body glowed blue, and the air around her distorted from the heat emitted by the aether.
Élodie moved toward the lycanthrope, swinging her warhammer with precision and striking the werewolf woman's jaw abruptly. The impact was hard enough to send her several feet backward, her head swerving to the side.
At that precise instant, a jet of hot aether hit the beast's neck, making a popping sound and flipping its body over, sending it tumbling backward.
Séraphine formed a fist. She had cast a spell, taking advantage of the opportunity presented by her companion. The witch knew it was not wise to use her rapier against a creature far stronger than her, so she decided to use her true strength:
Magic.
"What a pleasant feeling~" a different voice said from the body of the lycanthrope woman. She had sat up quickly to avoid a hammer blow from Élodie and a blue energy needle thrown by Séraphine.
A little blood came from her mouth, and her fur was somewhat singed in those wounded areas, but otherwise, the creature was in excellent condition. The werewolf snorted, causing a powerful gust of wind. An unnaturally long tongue darted out of her mouth to lick the blood from her lips.
"Hmm~ How will your blood taste?" the same voice said again. It was different from the beast's original thick voice and resembled the same one used by the entity that both Séraphine and Élodie had heard earlier.
"What are you?" the blonde asked. Though her question would have an obvious answer in another context, this time, a huge smile broke out on the lycanthrope's face.
"My name is Mirian, at least, this body goes by that name. Wouldn't it be better to find out for yourselves what I am? We can chat about my origin. They say I'm excellent company~" said Mirian, or rather, the entity speaking through her possessed body.
"I hate possessions," Séraphine growled before gesturing with her left hand and channeling aether from deep within her soul.
It was the gesture of a pair of scissors cutting. Two lines of blue energy emerged from her hand, coming dangerously close to the werewolf woman's neck before colliding with each other and seeking to sever the creature's head.
As Élodie charged again, leaving several remnant images in her wake, she concentrated much of her energy into her hammer, ready to unleash a powerful technique. Would Mirian let it all go their way? No.
Displaying her enhanced reflexes in this form, the werewolf woman ducked, avoiding Séraphine's spell. When Élodie was close enough, Mirian attacked with a powerful paw.
Supernatural creatures may lack specialized methods like magic, but they have abilities that make use of aether. The more intelligent the creature, the more diverse and interesting these abilities are.
How could Mirian not have a repertoire of ways to fight? The werewolf clashed her claw against the heavy hammer, and for a moment, there was a stalemate, a brief contest of strength between them.
Élodie lost. She had to back up several steps to lessen the impact, her hands trembling, which prevented her from defending herself properly. Suddenly, a powerful kick struck her abdomen. At that very moment, Mirian's energy glowed.
The lycanthrope formed blue energy claws with aether that struck the blonde with full force, sending her against one of the room's walls and making her tremble. At that moment, however, a large aether hand embraced Mirian's body so tightly that her sturdy bones creaked slightly.
"You seem angry, Witch," the entity said, using Mirian's body, but Séraphine chose to disregard it. Instead, she used her free hand to make another gesture: a punch aimed at the werewolf woman's face.
A blast of energy hit the lycanthrope's jaw squarely, and the sound of a broken bone echoed through the huge room. Séraphine then smashed Mirian with the other hand she had been holding her with, sending her crashing into the ceiling and floor several times until dizziness caused by mental strain made her stop.
"Yes... Remind me not to make you angry." Élodie approached Séraphine. Her abdomen wasn't hurt, despite her ruined police uniform, but she could feel a nasty bruise forming.
The witch put two fingers on the bridge of her nose, trying to endure the discomfort caused by casting spells continuously. The pause that occurred during her rampage gave her a brief opportunity to regain her composure.
"It's good that you learned your lesson, but this isn't over yet." After calming down, the witch looked at Mirian, who had slowly stood up and was glaring at them with hatred.
"Looks like we can't fix this properly. Too bad." From the beast's claws, counterparts made of pure energy emerged, and its muscles began to twist slightly, channeling new forces into its body.
"Like the wolf that crushed the piglets' houses to devour them, I will break their bones and use them as my holsters~" This time, it was Mirian, the body's genuine owner, who had spoken.
Her amber eyes looked earnestly at the two women, especially Séraphine. After puffing white steam, she strolled toward the girls. All the while, an invisible pressure surged from her, shocking the minds of the witch and the policewoman.
"When I get tired of playing with you, you will join me in my ritual, hehe~ I hope your moans are as sweet and enjoyable until then," that entity said again, laughing at a joke only she could understand.
Mirian had become serious. Now, a true alpha werewolf was about to show her real power in the second round.