"By the power of this Grimoire, by the magic of this Heart, I command you: Answer my call, O Beast of Gevaudan, and rise!" Alicia chanted.
Immediately, the sky turned dark, and a loud howl echoed, a guttural, terrifying sound that made the air tremble.
A giant wolf appeared, but unlike Iris, whose wolf form looked beautiful and almost divine, this wolf looked absolutely monstrous, like a creature from the deepest pit of the Abyss.
"Heh! You said so much about me using Longinus, but what about you, using one of the four forbidden grimoires and summoning that monster?"
Aisha sneered, pointing her spear towards the beast.
"But at least it gives me the chance to subjugate this beast my elders couldn't."
Then she leaped toward the sky and threw the spear at the forehead of the beast.
But the beast was surprisingly agile, dodging the attack with a swift move.
With its monstrous jaw, it lunged at the saintess. Eleanor and Iris also didn't stay idle.
They simultaneously attacked with full force, a flurry of vines and lightning.
While the fight kept going, Liliana, who was keeping an eye on the bounded priests, sighed in disappointment.
'I regret not learning any offensive ability when my mom told me to,' she thought with a glum expression.
But then she looked at the panting old men she had bound with her whip and thought,
'Is someone missing?' She mused, confused, but eventually concluded it was just her imagination.
.....
...
Aisha was now in a tight spot.
She was surrounded on four sides by the beast, Iris, Eleanor, and Alicia.
'How is that witch still able to use other magic despite summoning this monster?' she thought in disbelief.
But she still had plenty of cards under her sleeves.
"Witness, you foul creatures, the ultimate power of this spear!" she declared, her voice filled with zealous fervor, and plunged the spear into her own body.
Everyone watched in shocked disbelief.
'Is this woman crazy?'
But Alicia bit her lips and muttered, "That fool!"
Then, a blinding light emerged from Aisha's body, forcing everyone to close their eyes.
Upon opening them, they saw not the woman who had been fighting with them, but an armored, winged creature.
Its white features gave it a holy aura, and the armor had a heavenly feel to it.
The figure held the same spear, but it was now longer and more magnificent.
"How do you like this? It's the ultimate power of Longinus, which symbolizes the self-sacrifice of the Messiah Jesus for humanity," Aisha, who had transformed into a holy angel, said with a deep reverence.
But Alicia had an ugly expression.
"Aisha! Now you've done it! You're crossing the limits placed on humanity! If you don't stop this now, you'll disappear without a trace in the world!"
But Aisha had already lost her reason.
She brandished her spear and launched it toward the Beast of Gevaudan.
The beast, however, disappeared before the spear could harm it.
"Tch!" Aisha clicked her tongue and turned toward Alicia, who had called back the beast.
"Coward!" she said, and then attacked Alicia, but both Eleanor and Iris tried to stop her.
However, they couldn't do anything.
She just flicked them away with a gesture.
Her main target was Alicia, as she posed the most threat here.
"Unfortunately, I can't have you do that," a voice said.
Before Aisha could react, she was pierced by an arrow.
Aisha looked around and saw a male werewolf clad in violent lightning and flames, with a massive bow in his hands.
It was me, in my werewolf form.
"Let's start a proper round 2, shall we?" I said with a smirk, and my eyes glowed a beastly amber.
.....
I was finally recovering from the aftershock of that brutal soul-targeted attack.
My knees were on the ground, and my heart was still hammering against my ribs, but the sharp pain in my soul was beginning to subside.
I looked up, and that's when I saw it. The sight of my wives, the women who belonged to me, being hurt.
Eleanor, my beautiful arrogant Vampire wife, was bleeding from the mouth, her expression a mix of rage and frustration.
Iris, my cute wolf, was being casually tossed aside as if she were a toy.
And Alicia, the one who cared so much about others, was now desperately trying to solve the situation.
Something inside me snapped.
It wasn't just anger; it was a primal, all-consuming fury that bubbled up from the very core of my being.
My blood, a mix of human, demon, vampire, and werewolf, screamed in a single, unified voice.
They were mine, and no one, especially not some self-righteous saintess, was going to hurt them.
In a flash of pure, instinctual rage, I transformed.
My bones shifted, my muscles tore, and my body grew, covered in black fur.
Violent lightning and wild flames crackled around me, swirling and dancing as if answering the call of a new master.
My eyes glowed a beastly amber and in my hands, lightning and flames converged forming a massive bow.
It felt as if it had always been there being a part of my very soul and for the first time in my life
I felt truly complete.
I drew the bowstring back, a glowing arrow of lightning and flames materializing in my hand and let it fly.
It soared through the air faster than anything I had ever seen, and pierced Aisha my arrow hitting its mark.
She looked around, bewildered, searching for the source of the attack, and her eyes landed on me.
I stood in my new form, a smirk on my face, ready for the real fight to begin.
"Let's start a proper round two, shall we?" I said my voice growling in rage.
.....
"Damn you!" Aisha screamed, flying at high speed toward me, her holy spear aimed directly at my heart.
But I simply dodged, the holy weapon soaring harmlessly past my head.
I drew my bowstring back and fired again.
This time, the arrow made of pure lightning and flames struck her face, shattering the divine helmet that covered her head.
I whistled as I saw her beautiful, bleeding face.
"You look quite beautiful now, with blood as a makeup."
Hearing my words, Aisha touched her face and realized she was bleeding.
"No! I still hadn't completed my job yet!" she screamed in a mix of despair and rage, and quickly tried to throw her spear at me one last time.
But I dodged casually.
'It seems like her time is up. What a pity I couldn't even properly use my abilities,' I thought with a touch of regret.
After her last attempt failed, Aisha immediately felt an immense pain in every corner of her body.
Her armor dissolved, and she began to bleed from her eyes.
"Arghhh!" she screamed in agony.
Looking at her pitiful appearance, my anger died down.
I even felt a bit of pity for her.
"That's why I warned you," Alicia said, coming closer but stumbling a little.
"That spear isn't supposed to be wielded by humans."
I caught her and asked, "Are you okay?"
She nodded with a sweet smile.
"Just low on mana. Using that grimoire takes a lot. But thanks for caring."
I sighed in relief.
By now, these women had already become a part of me, so if I were to lose any of them, I'd certainly go crazy. I wondered if it was because the ritual was almost complete.
"Arghh!" Aisha's screams were still going on, and hearing them, I also felt the immense pain she was experiencing.
"Hey, is there a way to help her?" I asked Alicia.
Alicia looked at me with surprise.
"I didn't know you were this kind, to help an enemy."
I shrugged.
"I don't think of her as an enemy.
She was just acting on her beliefs, and I respect her dedication to them.
Besides, I don't think if she dies, things will go well." I muttered worriedly.
Alicia shared my look.
"Yes, the Church won't care about any pact or treaty anymore if their Saintess dies.
They'll launch a worldwide purge."
I shivered at the thought.
Those church fools were too extreme and self-sacrificing.
"Then is there a way to save her?" I asked in hope.
But Alicia hesitated, much like when she hesitated to tell me what I needed to do to save her before.
'No, it can't be, right?' I dismissed the thought.
But Alicia's forced words made me facepalm.
"You need to kiss her," she muttered while blushing.
'Well, at least it's not sex this time,' I thought in relief.
"Why do I need to kiss her to save her?"
Alicia cleared her throat and explained.
"Ahem... you see, her condition is due to overusing that spear, which contaminates the user with pure holy energy.
It's only suitable for angels and holy spirits."
"But you can convert holy energy to demonic energy or mana and by using the curse of witches, which sucks mana from others since you became something like a witch."
"Hey! I can only use my vines to do the conversion, and my vines will surely burn after getting in contact with her energy," I retorted.
But Alicia shook her head and said
"That ability is in your blood, and after you suck her energy, it will become yours, though the process will be painful as the holy energy is harmful to vampires and demons, but it's the only way."
I sucked in a sharp, cold breath at Alicia's words. 'A kiss? To save her? And it's going to hurt like hell?'
I thought.
I had just gotten used to my new powers, and now I was going to willingly poison myself with an energy that was fundamentally opposed to my nature.
But as I looked at Aisha, still screaming and writhing on the ground, a wave of pity washed over me.
Her unwavering belief in her mission, even to the point of self-destruction, was something I couldn't help but respect.
And as Alicia said, if she died here, the consequences would be catastrophic for everyone.
"Guess I have no choice," I muttered to myself.
I approached her, my newly transformed werewolf feet silent on the icy ground.
The sight of her in such agony was difficult to watch but I steeled myself.
I knelt down and gently grabbed her face, ignoring the screams, the blood, and the raw, holy energy burning off her skin.
And to the shock of everyone—Eleanor, Iris, Liliana, and even the hooded figure and the remaining priests—I kissed her.