"This place smells awful." Madeleine used her long, forked tongue to capture odor molecules in the air, allowing her to perceive the surrounding scents more efficiently. However, what she detected caused her face to crinkle.
The smells of fear, pain, and death. Not only did the ruined building in front of her look creepy, but it smelled creepy too, making her serpentine lower body twitch nervously.
Despite being particularly special among her people, she wasn't a fighter. She didn't like adventure or mayhem, which is why she had decided to be an actress. Yet here she was, standing in front of an abandoned factory.
They were supposed to gather information, but could they do so without confrontation? It was impossible to go in and out quietly. Madeleine could feel it in her scales.
Something in there would make them fight. They had tipped off a policewoman and even the Tower about their actions for a reason. The lamia looked down, towering over the pair of girls who had come with her to this place.
Élodie wore her police uniform, with her warhammer resting on her shoulder. She didn't seem to mind its weight. The blonde looked quite fresh. The exhaustion of the previous day left no mark on her face. However, her expression was serious as she gazed at the location before her.
The atmosphere she perceived was vastly different from that of the cottage the day before. If the cottage was a rotten pit full of corruption, then the factory in front of her was a butcher's shop.
Goosebumps rose on her arms, and although she seemed relaxed, her muscles were tense and her hands clenched the handle of her weapon, ready to strike at any moment.
Séraphine had to restrain the urge to open her Special Vision. There was something odd about that feeling, as if she had an itch she wanted to scratch, though she knew it was unnecessary.
Something was trying to influence her! Realizing this, the witch strengthened her resolve and will before channeling the Aether. She was about to cast a spell when her urge suddenly disappeared.
'Something has undoubtedly noticed our presence,' Séraphine concluded, wrinkling her face in displeasure because this was the worst-case scenario she had foreseen.
She just wanted to approach the situation normally, perhaps without twists and turns, like a common detective. But deep down, she wasn't bothered by this outcome because, in a way, it accommodated what she wanted:
Satisfy her curiosity, go on adventures, and find answers. While it was possible that the cult was not directly related to the Inferos from her past, cults always attracted attention.
What did these people want? With the little she knew, Séraphine couldn't tell if there was a specific pattern. It was as if they were testing or feeling their way. Or perhaps they just wanted to cause chaos for some ulterior motive or to bring trouble into the world.
Although she had been involved in a cult and had survived unscathed, she had an aversion to them. This matter, coupled with the substantial funds provided by Madeleine, prompted Séraphine to take action, though she also took it personally, albeit privately.
"Shall we go in?" asked Séraphine, breaking the awkward silence that had settled on the trio from the moment they approached.
"Yes, we should go in," replied Élodie, sighing and relaxing her muscles slightly because it wasn't optimal to be so tense without seeing any enemies.
"The faster we get in, the faster we can leave and get it over with," Madeleine muttered, annoyed. She had already made up her mind.
Since she was already here, why not go all in? She was under threat, and someone suffered as a result of her inaction. She didn't want this to happen again. There was a gleam of resolution in her snake-like pupils.
The three women walked the path to the ruins of the abandoned factory and noticed a disturbing lack of sound. It was as if this place were an isolated part of the world.
They came to a steel door whose paint was mottled and faded, revealing the rusted metal underneath. Large chains hung limply, and Séraphine quickly noticed that they had been cut.
Élodie touched the door and pushed it open. However, they could not see inside because a strange darkness covered everything. Suddenly, a cold wind blew, making the three women shiver.
"No need for a special camera. The spiritual corruption here is terrible," the policewoman said, casually clicking her tongue. However, she was somewhat frightened by this situation.
Even in the military, places like this were approached with caution. Unlike yesterday's house, this place seemed more inert: extremely silent and still, which gave her a strange feeling of incongruity.
It was as if the whole place was wrong, as if it should have more life and activity. Séraphine and Madeleine had felt this way too, so they stepped back, trying to decipher the situation in front of them.
"This is different from yesterday. Here, the world has leaked; the reality inside has been replaced." After watching the scene for a few moments, the detective blurted out.
"Shit... should we just leave?" Élodie asked in a low voice, but Séraphine shook her head.
"We must destroy the anchor holding this fragment of the Spirit World in our reality. Otherwise, it could spread. Though it seems contained... I don't trust anything to do with cultists." Séraphine's answer determined the course of their actions, however risky they may be.
Élodie took the first step, holding her hammer with both hands in a posture that allowed her to react quickly in case of emergencies. She was followed by the witch, who pulled her revolver from her hat. She was certain the enchanted bullets she had purchased that morning would serve her well.
Madeleine brought up the rear. Her hands had subtly transformed into deadly claws, and her long fingernails had grown even longer with fatal edges. The women were enveloped in darkness, but they did not lose their vision unexpectedly.
Rather, it seemed as if they had crossed some boundary or threshold and arrived in a place completely different from what they had expected. They saw the dusty, rusty interior of an abandoned textile factory, which resembled a cave.
The stone walls were moistened by a strange black liquid that seemed to breathe. Huge mushrooms emitted an uncomfortable reddish light. Above all, the surrounding sounds were weird, similar to unintelligible distant murmurs.
The temperature had dropped so much that mist appeared when they breathed. The stage in front of them was unbelievably huge, far exceeding what the venue should have been.
The ceiling was covered with crystals that emitted an eerie purple light. The air felt rarefied. Surprisingly, this place seemed quite alive. There was grass, and even some creatures frolicked, yet this was no idyllic earthly paradise.
It was a fragment of the Spirit World, complete with all that entailed. The three had stopped on guard against the creature grazing in front of them. It had red fur, four legs, and a deer-like appearance. However, on its forehead was a huge golden eye focused directly on Séraphine.
Its antlers were unlike anything they had expected; they were two arm-like limbs with monstrous claws that picked up grass from the ground and brought it straight into its fang-filled mouth.
"What is that thing? It doesn't look like a normal deer," whispered Élodie, not knowing what she was facing. Séraphine didn't know either, but she knew why it existed.
"It's an animal corrupted by the uncontrolled Spiritual Energy in this place," the brunette replied, making the police officer squint and bend her body.
"Some force probably attracted it to this place. Ever since we entered, I've felt strange. Something has been guiding me to a certain spot," added Madeleine, alerting her companions.
"You too?" asked the blonde seriously, making Séraphine glance at her.
"Strengthen your will. The whispers we hear are not normal." Although the witch was not very explicit, her stern tone indicated the seriousness of the matter.
As if fed up with the women's dialogue, the deer raised its head completely and looked at the women with its three eyes, always focusing on Séraphine. Something about her attracted it, sparking an intense desire within it.
It wanted to eat to satisfy the growing urge, so it acted on this new instinct and growled, opening its mouth full of deformed fangs. It ran toward the witch with its arms stretched forward, its head on its shoulders, wanting to capture her and tear her apart.
Élodie looked at Séraphine for a moment before lunging toward the deer. She swung her warhammer with all her might, and the head of her weapon smashed the side of the corrupted creature. It flew several meters through the air.
"This thing is too weak," the blonde said, watching the animal try to get up. She wouldn't let it, though, raising her hammer high and dropping it heavily on its head, crushing it completely.
"Yes... But you've attracted the attention of the others here," Séraphine said, pointing off in the distance to what appeared to be rabbits.
Ignoring their tumor-filled bodies that oozed black blood, their lack of fur, and their bulging red eyes that glared in anger, they could be rabbits. These animals were just a sign of the corrupting power of this place where the Spirit World had eroded reality.
"Life has been twisted in horrible ways in this place." Madeleine stuck out her tongue to take in the scents of this place. However, she wrinkled her nose at the 'bad taste' of the air and decided not to do that again.
What she had just perceived was so disgusting that she didn't want to taste it again. Although the environment in this so-called cavern was lit, the light was dim. There was a strange lack of illumination, but Madeleine had her racial advantages.
She could see well in the dark, so she was the first to adapt to these conditions and see more than her companions.
Hidden enemies approached them. Bats with scales and unnatural spikes covered their bodies. These creatures, mutated by Spiritual Energy, hung on the walls and slurped the oozing liquid, although their eyes looked greedily and avidly at the women.
There were also insects, snakes, and foxes. Even Madeleine could see a fairy hiding behind a rock. Despite the environment's effect on the creatures that spent much time inside, this tiny being did not appear to be affected. This attracted the attention of the lamia.
"There's a fairy here. Should we help her?" the snake woman asked. Both Élodie and Séraphine turned their gazes to her.
"We have to help her! Poor thing. She must have run away from people who wanted to catch her..." The blonde felt sad when she made that statement. She loved fairies and had played with them as a child. She disliked the way current society treated these entities.
"If you pay me more, I have no problem lending a hand to the fairy," Séraphine said with a small smile. In this awful environment, at least there was something good: an extra profit and a fairy, one of the beings that caught her attention the most.
She didn't see helping a fairy as problematic, although they had to get rid of the incoming enemies first. Instead of attacking the rabbits or land animals first, one of the bats swooped directly toward the witch.
Séraphine was prepared for this, though, and aimed her gun. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger of the revolver. The bullet left a red trail in its wake. Upon impact with the corrupted bat, there was an explosion that reduced it to a pile of charred flesh.
This astonished Élodie, who moved closer to Séraphine, examining the weapon with interest. She never expected Séraphine to initiate combat with an enchanted bullet!
Such an explosion could only be achieved with specially designed ammunition. Having noticed the Aether that the scene gave off, she confirmed that Séraphine had wasted an expensive enchanted bullet.
"What a waste!" the policewoman said, clicking her tongue. She watched as the remaining bats seemed afraid, constantly flapping against the wall but not pouncing like their predecessor.
The same went for the other creatures, which retained some of their instincts as normal animals. They turned away or hid but continued to watch the trio of women, waiting.
"That was a good shot." Madeleine gave a thumbs-up in appreciation. It was an exceptional shot, after all.
As a Lamia, normal firearms were fragile for her, yet she was fascinated by them. From her experience as an amateur markswoman, she knew that Séraphine's stance and movements were quite smooth when shooting.
"Thank you. We can now move forward in relative peace, but they'll probably attack again soon. We'll have to be on guard," Séraphine said, twirling the revolver in her hand before resuming her journey toward the fairy.
Although she was interested in her strange surroundings, she knew she had to focus on what was most important. She kept her urge to collect samples of the glowing mushrooms to herself.
Not only did she have to look for evidence in this place, but she also had to resolve the erosion of the Spirit World in the area. She had some questions in mind, too. Did humans cause this? Were the culprits cultists who did it on purpose, or was it an accident?
Perhaps because the world itself wanted her to have the sample, one of the mushrooms, a grayish color with red spots on its body, trembled. Then, two white appendages emerged on either side of its body and differentiated into what appeared to be beefy arms.
The mushroom sat up on its small legs. Although it had no face, it tilted its 'head' toward the women, making them feel as if they were being watched. Then, they heard a neutral voice coming from the mushroom.
"You guys... Are you new here? I haven't seen you before." Even though it didn't have a mouth, the mushroom's voice spread throughout the area. Séraphine narrowed her eyes, and without a second thought, she decided to take a risk.
"Yeah, we're not used to this place. Can you guide us?" the witch asked. It seemed that her words had sparked something because she heard a faint laugh coming from the mushroom.
"Okay~! Call me Nisca. Nice to meet you," the mushroom said as it walked toward the bat corpse that the witch had shot earlier.
Everything about this creature seemed tender: its awkward movements and its neutral voice, which carried a hint of childish innocence. But this impression ended when they saw its actions.
Whitish whips emerged from its foot, seeming to have a slimy consistency. These appendages enveloped the burnt bat, and a strange sucking sound was heard, sending shivers down the women's spines.
It was a terrifying scene because they could see in great detail how the fungus was digesting the corpse at an accelerated rate, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.
Even the fairy, hiding behind a rock, avoided looking any longer, shrinking timidly as if she wanted to become invisible. The hair on Élodie's body stood on end, and her danger perception sent her constant warning signals.
She was facing deadly danger! Worse yet, the mushroom seemed to stir as it hummed, as if its previous actions were as simple as breathing, nothing serious at all.