'They don't seem to be on the same side as the people barricaded here. The Grim are creatures associated with bad omens, but they never cause them; they only appear in places where bad things happen,' Séraphine said, reviewing her knowledge of these creatures. She looked around carefully and noticed something strange.
She knew then that the Grim were simply passing by, waiting for something to happen. The witch brought her right hand to the handle of her rapier and turned to face the police.
"We are surrounded," Séraphine declared. When these words finally fell, the real threat, the source of the weirdness in the atmosphere, appeared.
The greatest threat in this world did not come from supernatural creatures, spiritual entities, or the mysteries lurking in the cracks of reality; it came from humans.
Under the distant howl of a wolf, a group of men and women emerged from the trees and bushes. Each held a blunt object, such as a pipe, crowbar, or wrench.
Only a few held proper weapons, like a woman with a fireman's axe or a man with a dagger that gleamed oddly.
"The Mistress sensed your intrusion, you beasts!" said the man with the dagger, making Séraphine pay attention to him. But when she noticed who he was, her eyes narrowed:
Gerard Schwan, Elizabeth Schwan's husband. She hadn't seen him when she approached the house, nor had she imagined that he would threaten her. She had just thought he might be normal, or perhaps manipulated.
Not a fanatic. The witch could tell that Gerard's eyes were full of blind fanaticism, but then she noticed the incongruity, so she opened her Vision.
Reality lost its sane side before her eyes and became a tangle of unparalleled madness and strangeness. Ignoring all that, she looked at each person around her.
Everyone present was covered in red smoke, a symbol of spiritual energy in the physical realm. This energy was building up in their heads. With the simple act of seeing this, she heard things out of nowhere.
"Hmm~ A Visionary~ And it's about to ripen! What a delight! I want to taste you. You must have suffered a lot, and your soul surely wants to feel pleasure. I can help you with that. You just have to... Surrender your body!" The whisper sounded like the tender voice of a willing lover, but gradually distorted into unintelligible squeaks.
"Shit, now this involves spiritual entities," muttered Séraphine as she turned off her Vision.
"If we can kill these guys, right?" asked Élodie wryly. But the policewoman knew better than to resort to lethal force. So, when she adopted a more comfortable fighting stance, she barely enhanced her body with energy.
"Just don't bash their heads in. I doubt they'll stand your hammer," the witch responded to the blonde's odd quip, all while unsheathing her rapier, ready to fight.
"By Mother Light! You're so bossy. Did they tell you?" Without waiting for an answer from Séraphine, Élodie moved swiftly toward an enemy holding a metal pipe.
Although there was no visible energy, the seething power surging from her soul empowered her physique beyond human capabilities. With a few steps, she reached her enemy.
"Die, bitch!" the man shouted, frightened by her speed. But his attack was too slow for her, and she simply evaded the blow before swinging her hammer with one hand and striking his chest.
An ugly crack was heard as bones broke. The man flew backward, dropped his weapon, crashed into a tree, and fell unconscious.
Despite this brutal image, those around him did not flinch, even though they were afraid. For Séraphine, watching these people rush toward her and the police like mindless zombies was an unpleasant sight.
If there was one thing she detested about spiritual entities, it was the loss of agency they caused when deeply corrupting someone. The worst thing was that she knew this corruption didn't just appear; it had conduits and ways to manifest. It didn't just spring out of nowhere.
When a woman with an empty wine bottle approached Séraphine in an attempt to strike her, the witch hesitated only a moment, considering the implications of her actions, before moving forward.
With a step forward, her rapier slid easily into her attacker's shoulder, clearing the way for her to hit her with the bottle. Then, the detective closed the distance to the woman and struck her enemy's abdomen hard.
Séraphine was not a superhumanly enhanced witch, yet her blow went straight to the liver, incapacitating the woman. She took several steps backward just in time to avoid being surrounded by a trio of enemies who tried to take advantage of her pause.
"Flies," declared Séraphine before making the same hand gesture one would use to scare away flying insects.
Aether surged through her body again, raising her body temperature. A wave of blue energy emerged from her hand, abruptly pushing the attackers several meters away.
At that moment, Élodie appeared and kicked one of the fallen enemies in the head. She looked sideways at Séraphine with mockery in her eyes as if apologizing for hitting one of the enemies.
The police took care of another enemy before supporting the witch. Seeing how well she was doing, however, made the policewoman feel a bit sad because she wanted to see the witch embarrassed after having annoyed her earlier.
Without finding what she wanted, she attacked one of the enemies the brunette had knocked down. Then, she used her hammer to hit the legs of the other two. After all, if the police had broken bones, they couldn't cause any trouble, right?
Séraphine ignored this for now because Gérard had gotten too close, wildly and carelessly slashing his dagger at her. She didn't want to hurt this man, especially since she was paid to keep him safe. She didn't know how to react, so she resorted to words.
"Gerard Schwan! Your wife is worried about you and sent me to find you," said the detective. She hoped this would awaken something inside her enemy, but what followed next extinguished that hope.
"That bitch! She's just a sacrifice my Mistress chose. She couldn't give me what she wanted. No! It was my Mistress who made me feel alive again!" Gerard's white skin turned red, and veins marked it like writhing worms.
His fat body trembled, but he never stopped trying to slash at the witch with his weapon, all while maintaining a strange smile. His body slowly became more limber as the fat seemed to be consumed, which Séraphine assessed negatively.
"You took a combat stimulant?" Élodie interrupted the detective because she was looking at the woman holding a fire axe and giggling like crazy, even though her skin was so red it didn't seem natural.
After Séraphine fought Gerard, she took care of the rest of the enemies with her speed and skill. However, she ran into the last of them: an unhinged girl who wouldn't stop laughing despite her state.
"It's only our Mistress' gift! She has empowered me with her power!" the woman exclaimed in a hoarse voice. She carelessly waved her weapon, ignoring the fact that her clothes were stained with blood.
But this blood did not come from wounds on her body; she was sweating it out as the flesh on her body was consumed. Her skin stuck to her bones and cracked. The strength she achieved was comparable to that of an underperforming Élodie, which surprised the police.
'Who gave these people banned drugs?' thought the blonde. Her blue eyes turned serious as she made a drastic decision.
With the speed she had trained with in the army, she brought her free hand to her standard firearm and fired several shots into the attacking woman's chest. But the projectiles merely penetrated her meager flesh, striking her bones and remaining there.
"Your bullets cannot overcome the power our Mistress has given us. Why don't you join us? I see the desire in your eyes, the longing for strong emotions, for something vibrant in your life.
Are you bored with your day-to-day life? I have all the pleasure you need right here! All you have to do is open your legs now and then and let yourself go." The woman's husky voice gradually changed into a much more feminine voice, full of sensuality.
Hearing those words, the policewoman's movements became sluggish. Her eyes seemed covered with tears, and her mind became chaotic. For a moment, her will faltered, something her enemy took advantage of.
The fire axe came dangerously close to her neck, seeking to decapitate her completely. Suddenly, however, she reacted, her body covered with aether, and the enemy's weapon only pierced an illusory image.
The police appeared behind the woman, whose body was now just a skeleton covered in blood. With her hands on the handle of her blue, light-coated warhammer, she needed only one attack to crush her enemy's skull.
Bits of bone and brain matter flew toward her, but she evaded them with a simple movement. Although she was accustomed to such scenes, she frowned with annoyance; she didn't like what she had to do.
However, she knew she couldn't be melodramatic at that moment. The blonde turned her attention to the battlefield and quickly noticed the changes that had occurred.
The man Séraphine called Gerard was now on the ground in a similar state to the woman with the axe. What was special, though, was that a gigantic hand made of blue light was pressing him to the ground while the witch stood in front of him, aiming her rapier at him.
The brunette's left hand was covered in hot aether and made a grabbing gesture. Each of her finger movements was mirrored in the large hand as if they were connected.
Séraphine resorted to a basic gesture that created an energy replica of her hand. Usually, it was not very large, but she had to put a lot of aether into it to increase its power and stop Gerard, who seemed to have become a berserker.
Beads of sweat fell from the witch's forehead. Instead of taking more drastic measures, she simply took the dagger from her enemy. From the moment she saw it, she knew it was poisoned.
"I was paid to take you to safety, and just for that, I won't squash you like a bug," Séraphine said grumpily. Her head had started to hurt slightly due to the use of magic, and she didn't want to listen to a fan's chatter.
The brunette did the next best thing and looked at Élodie with a questioning look. At first, the cop didn't understand why Séraphine was looking at her until the latter subtly pointed to the man's head.
"Ah! You want me to knock him out. Why don't you hit him? Wait... is this so you'll be in a better position when you complain about me hitting him?" asked Élodie, disbelieving. The witch simply looked at her with a satisfied smirk.
"Maybe the police have a little hope," Séraphine joked, making Élodie roll her eyes. She hit Gérard on the head several times as if blowing off steam.
"You're an annoying bitch," Élodie said to Séraphine. Séraphine simply adjusted her hat and sheathed her rapier.
"Huh? Thanks for the compliment. We witches are all annoying, you know?" Séraphine replied with a face that resembled a fox's.
'Now I want to smash her head in,' thought grumpy Élodie, before turning her gaze to the cottage, the target of both her and the witch. Séraphine also turned her attention to the building, her green eyes glowing.
She wanted to use her Vision to take a look at it and see what she could find, even if she knew it might be unpleasant. Behind the two women, the Grim simply lay back in the sunlight, but their presence was a warning.
A bad omen.
𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝
"Garbage will always be garbage," muttered a female voice. The speaker stood in a dimly lit room.
She was a tall woman, easily two meters tall. Her gray hair looked matted despite its length. Tufts of the same color dotted her arms and legs, which were exposed because she was wearing only a pair of blue shorts and a white flannel shirt.
One distinctive feature was her gray tail that sprouted from her back. For some reason, it didn't wag gently; it was stiff with all her hair standing on end, as if she were on guard against something.
Her somewhat sun-tanned skin was covered in unnatural purple lines, and she growled as she watched a crystal ball showing what was happening outside the cottage.
"Don't worry, Mirian~ We just throw out the waste and tasteless leftovers to receive new dishes. Aren't those women a finer delicacy?" Another voice emerged from the same body.
This time, it was more sensual and deliberate, as if it wanted to charm the listener with its words alone.
The witch and the policewoman would be surprised if they heard that voice, as it was the same one each had heard on her own. A strange cry emerged from the woman's body, and her eyes took on a subtle, purplish glow, enveloping the amber of her pupils.
"Stop those nonsensical remarks! You know I'm doing all this for a reason other than what you think," the woman said in an annoyed voice. Her body was tense, as if she were facing an invisible but very real threat.
"Come on~ It was just a joke. But since we've come this far, why not go deeper?" The same voice kept coming out of Mirian, who began to spasm uncontrollably, guided by an unknown force.
Unable to control her body, she brought her hands to her neck. Her fingers creaked from her constant struggle, but they inevitably wrapped around her throat. It wasn't what she wanted; something else had taken over her being.
'I... I don't want this! Stop! Stop!' she screamed in her mind. But it was impossible to control her body. A sensual laughter echoed in her head, overwhelming her thoughts of denial.
Her breathing became labored, and her body wobbled from lack of air. The power acting upon Mirian, the presence using her as a channel to manifest itself, was trying to kill her. Worse yet, it was using her own hands to do so.
There was always a hint of resistance in her eyes, but she couldn't speak for help. Even if she did, would the witch and the police help her? The situation increased her desperation more and more.
No matter how much she tensed her body, gritted her teeth, or shook her head in protest, she ended up falling to her knees, her face turning purple, and cold sweat pouring down her skin.
Her vision blurred because she was about to faint from asphyxiation. Only in her mind did she have full control, which she used to express her helplessness and curse the entity that had taken over her.
'Them... help... not again! I hate this! Stop, damn you, Inferos! I don't want this!' But no matter how much she screamed in her mind, only the mocking laughter of Inferos remained.
This supernatural force constantly tugged at her hands, deflecting them from her neck, and always returned to assert itself, filling her with despair. No matter how much she tore at the skin on her neck, staining her fingers with blood, pain was no use.
"Come on~ Despite everything we've done, are you still resisting me? Sweetie~ you called me. You asked me for power. But now, you treat me like a used rag~.
Weren't you the one who arranged that ritual? Even if you were tricked! Still, I gave you the solution you wanted~" The presence inside her body continued to taunt Mirian. But his words finally allowed her to express her thoughts aloud.
"I wanted to save my husband! You and those bastards lied to me! This is not what I wanted! I am not your plaything!" The lycanthrope shouted with all her pent-up anger, fear, and pain from years of losing control.
"What a bore. You people are always worried about mundane things. Why resist? Isn't it better to enjoy the comforts I provide? It's better than thinking about what you've lost. Enjoy what you can have now.
I know you want it, Mirian. I'll give it to you. I'll save your husband, but just imagine telling him everything you've done. Imagine telling him how you had to defile your body and betray his trust to save him.
Do you think he'd like watching you do it to others to collect the power you need? HAHAHAHAHA! I can just imagine his face when he finds out!" Right at the end of those words, Mirian's hands stopped trying to choke them.
Tears fell from her eyes, tears of joy at being free again, or perhaps tears of grief for what she had lost. She had memories of her life, of the one she had given everything for, and of why she had ended up like this. She regretted it so much because, in the end, she knew she could not save him.
She was sunk deep into the depths of this affair. The worst part was that she was trapped helplessly in her body. The purple lines furrowing her skin glowed brightly, suppressing all traces of her original personality and replacing them with something else.
Then, as if pulled by invisible threads, her body sat up abruptly. More bright light emerged from the lines, and her body began to change.
Soon, her breathing became agitated, her muscles trembled beneath her skin, and creaks came from every bone in her body. Her stature increased, her hands transformed into claws, and her muzzle lengthened to resemble a wolf's.
A wolf's howl arose from her as her alternate form was revealed. Soon, she was covered in gray fur, weighed more than an average human, and the wooden floor beneath her feet cracked.
An aura of savagery enveloped her, and her slender figure became that of a gigantic, four-meter-tall lycanthrope. Torn pieces of cloth showed that her clothes could not withstand the transformation. However, with so much hair on her body, nothing indecent was exposed.
At this point, the lines on her skin faded, and the purple glow covering her eyes disappeared. Her new personality finally felt free and comfortable.
"Let's surprise the new girls. I hope they feel the same pleasure as I~" This time, Mirian's voice was quite deep and thick, and she occasionally grunted.
Although she no longer showed visible resistance, deep down, a desperate cry still sought to escape. Something still sought to be noticed and rescued. However, this wasn't a chance.
The hope of recovery was distant, a mere illusion. She had finally lost her body, but perhaps... it was for the best. That peace, however, was bitter, and the silence was even more painful than her cry.
Mirian was no more; only a puppet walked now in her stronger guise, a she-wolf waiting for the pair of Red Hoods to enter her home and explore.