"The thing is, those things shouldn't even exist. They're outdated theories, particularly in alchemy, where it was believed that everything was made up of 'nuclei' and that everything, especially energy, had one.
While the existence of atoms and their nuclei is real, they are quite different from those ideas. These are things that were never proven, especially in terms of energy.
Those who believe they can create an aether nucleus in their souls end up seriously damaging them, losing the ability to make them vibrate effectively. Meanwhile, no one has been foolish enough to try the same thing with spiritual energy because such attempts have caused catastrophes.
That's why information about these things isn't publicized. "I'm not surprised you hardly know about this concept. People want to avoid these kinds of harmful results for themselves or others," Francisca explained, upsetting Rubin, who didn't attack. There was fear in his pink eyes as he watched the redhead, especially her sniper rifle.
The alchemist's words made Séraphine feel a strange sensation in her gut. Had her teacher censored the books on this and other topics? Was that her way of protecting her? But now that she knew this key point, she could make more sense of what she saw in the spirit child.
"Tell me something, Rubin," Séraphine said, getting the young spiritual creature to pay attention to her.
"Were you aware of yourself when the spiritual energy of this place corrupted the animals and corpses of women here?" the witch asked. The child stiffened, taken aback by the question.
"No matter what answer I give you, you will attack me anyway, but yes, I did participate in it. Although I did not understand Howard's spell, I contributed greatly to his actions." A cruel smile appeared on Rubin's face. Séraphine nodded and made a stabbing gesture with her hand.
The aether manifested as a thin beam of energy shooting from the witch toward the spiritual creature. Since her previous advantage due to her spiritual energy field had almost disappeared, Séraphine's spell struck Rubin's body and pierced his chest.
"Finally! Enough talk! It's time to get even with you!" shouted Élodie. Despite moving more slowly than before, she ran toward the enemy with her war hammer in tow.
There was no energy covering her body; the enhancement was underperforming. However, the police officer was brave and didn't care that she wasn't at her full potential. She was going to hit Rubin with her hammer!
"Your new friend is quite fearless," Francisca commented to Séraphine before pointing her rifle at the crimson boy who had acted when Élodie approached him.
Although wounded by the witch's spell, which had reacted with the energy making up his body this time, he resisted the pain, determined to face the police officer's initiative.
He easily dodged the hammer blow from Élodie to his side before using his speed to punch the blonde in the abdomen, reminiscent of the previous blow that had knocked her out.
However, despite the power behind his punch, Élodie stopped it with one of her hands. She was not in excellent condition, though, so she was pushed back and her feet slipped on the floor.
Rubin tried to continue attacking her because she might be vulnerable now and weakened, and he was confident in his ability to do so. But Madeleine's tail fell on the spirit creature's body, crushing her small figure under its weight.
She had approached with a sudden movement, inspired by the way snakes use their bodies to leap and bite their prey. Now, the lamia's skin had turned green, and a pair of horns had grown on her head. She had used something she disliked.
For a Lamia like Madeleine, the serpentine nature was more than just an adjective describing her personality or actions. It was intrinsic to her species, which was not human but only partially resembled human beings.
Her current form was her true appearance. Her previous form could be considered a disguise that she used to interact with society, though it could also be said that it limited her.
Having grown accustomed to that form, which was better suited to social interactions, returning to her original form was difficult and exhausting, but it was a sign that she was special.
"Damn! Why are there so many special women around you, Séraphine?" asked Élodie upon seeing the state Séraphine was in, generating spheres of aether that floated behind her.
"Do you think the phrase 'the most beautiful of the lamias' was pure propaganda?" Those who know her know that Madeleine is a Lamia unlike the rest. That's why she has special abilities and is stronger than the rest of her species.
It's like the Alphas in the werewolves, the Nobles in the vampires, or the Queens in the fairies," Séraphine replied. She watched as Madeleine's body was pushed aside, revealing Rubin. He stood up and stepped back, looking carefully at the Lamia.
"How does it feel to be pinned to the ground?" Madeleine asked, causing the boy to frown as he understood the meaning behind her words.
They were taking it out on him! Rubin felt that his lack of energy was more dangerous than he had thought. Did that mean he was a failure, as they had told him? No, he wasn't!
"I will never be without freedom again!" Rubin shouted. Unlike before, however, the fragment of the Spirit World did not tremble. Several flashes of red energy appeared in front of him.
"Watch out!" Séraphine said, sending her aether spheres toward the crimson boy. He reached out his hand toward her and glared at her viciously.
Rubin did not focus on the other women, not even Francisca, who was the most threatening to him. Instead, he blocked the witch directly. The floating flashes fired red beams of energy that collided with the spells Séraphine had sent.
The clash between the two attacks caused a strong, energetic reaction. The reaction between the aether and spiritual energy caused purple lightning to surge and a strong, momentary flash of light.
Unlike Rubin, however, the witch had allies. When they became embroiled in this battle, Francisca took action. The redhead fired, hitting the same spot wounded by Séraphine's spell. This caused an explosion in the crimson boy's body.
Then, moving close enough to get him in her range, Élodie struck Rubin's shattered torso with her hammer, sending him flying into a column and causing it to collapse.
Madeleine approached, puffing out her cheeks. She exhaled a cloud of purple smoke that produced an audible sizzling sound upon contact with the rocks that made up the fallen column. Rubin cried out in pain as he felt the Lamia's venom corrode his body.
"Does this count as revenge?" asked an out-of-breath Élodie. She had not fully recovered from her previous exhaustion, and her actions had only made it worse.
"I suppose so," Séraphine replied, but something felt wrong. Her intuition was warning her of imminent danger, of which she was unaware.
The witch watched as Rubin rose from the rubble and narrowly dodged another blow from Élodie's hammer and a lash from Madeleine's tail. However, he was wounded again by a bullet fired by Francisca and a cutting spell from Séraphine.
One of his arms and legs lay on the ground. He stifled his cry, not wanting to appear weaker than he already was. His skin was covered in wounds and sores caused by poison. His clothes were torn, and pink blood, strange for a man, dripped from him, staining the floor.
His face contorted with rage, but his limited energy from previous reconstructions rendered him powerless. He looked at his attackers with hatred, but he knew he couldn't act; he had practically been defeated.
"I..." He didn't know what to say. Everything had started well for him. He was winning. He had demonstrated his power without any problems. He felt completely free after obtaining a physical form.
Now, however, he was only a shadow of his former self. His exuberant spiritual energy from years past had been consumed to regenerate after the shots he received from Francisca.
Even his recovery had slowed down. This allowed his enemies to recover and regroup. He was feeling the consequences of this firsthand at that moment.
Then, Rubin remembered something. He looked up and focused his attention on the outside, the Spiritual World, not the mere fragment in which he found himself. His instincts told him not to take that step, but his desperation at ending up in his current state made him take drastic measures.
"If I can't be free... then I'll take everyone with me! The crimson child murmured, causing Séraphine to feel a sense of dread because she knew.
What lay outside this fragment was not only the dangerous Spiritual World but also a higher entity she didn't want to remember because she didn't want to attract its attention.
"Don't do anything crazy!" the witch shouted, but Rubin gave her a malicious smile before placing his remaining hand on the ground and channeling his last bit of spiritual energy.
"DON'T THINK I'LL LET YOU DO WHAT YOU WANT!" Élodie took advantage of the enemy's movements to get closer to him. Her warhammer was covered in a thin layer of aether. But it was her expression at that moment that was worth paying attention to.
The blonde's blue eyes were bloodshot, and her mouth was slightly open like a predator about to pounce on its prey. Her weapon, raised high in the air, fell heavily on Rubin's head, crushing his face against the floor.
The initial impact caused small tremors that worsened over time, indicating that they were not caused by Élodie's actions; she did not have the strength for something like that.
Rubin had succeeded in fulfilling his purpose. The spiritual fragment had changed because of what the Crimson Child had done. Soon, these tremors were no longer mere disturbances but something much more serious.
The 'walls' of this space began to show cracks. The air itself seemed to have turned into broken glass, revealing a strange, dark reality outside.
"Damn it! That thing destabilized this fragment's space," Francisca complained, looking angrily at Rubin. Despite having been crushed, he laughed.
A child's laughter is usually cute, but when it comes from a spiritual creature like him, it's creepy. He no longer cared about the pain, his loss of energy, or his imminent end.
He knew he had won!
"You know it's out there, too! Right, Witch? You saw that barrier! You must have seen the hands playing with it. I don't know what they are, but they're much stronger than I am.
I see your fears; they're like fireflies around your head. I'll never be able to see real fireflies, but I know they exist. Is this a form of punishment for an imperfect life like mine?" Even though the hammer was still pressing down on his head, Rubin managed to turn his head slightly and use his pink eyes to take one last look at Séraphine, who had an ugly expression on her face.
"We have to run...!" Séraphine warned, but her voice stopped, and her eyes began to shine, allowing her to see the essence of things. Instead of focusing on those strange things, however, she focused on things related to the Spirit World.
The golden barrier covering this special space had broken, its pieces falling from the sky like rain and leaving everything exposed to...that. A pair of floating gray hands slowly approached as if choosing whom to snatch away.
"Everyone, close your eyes and other senses!" Francisca exclaimed, taking more drastic measures by removing her red contact lenses, revealing completely black irises similar to those of the population of her homeland.
Sasha hid in Séraphine's cleavage, not wanting to see what was happening. As a fairy, she could see things much better than humans could, so she had already closed her eyes tightly without needing to hear the alchemist's words.
The same went for Madeleine and Élodie. Neither of them had Séraphine's eyes or the special gifts of a Fairy Queen, but each possessed senses superior to those of humans.
The Lamia returned to her more human-like appearance, hiding her head with her tail as she curled up on the ground. As she did so, she had only one thought: If she got out of this alive, she would never engage in this kind of activity again.
The police had developed good perception skills in the army, so she simply turned away from Rubin, closing her eyes and distracting herself with random thoughts while focusing all her senses on her own body.
Élodie may not have been an expert on matters related to the spiritual world, but she had a lot of practical experience with related topics. In a way, you didn't need to know too much when you could solve everything with your hammer. However, she was grateful to have received good training in the army because she didn't want to be a victim of what was about to happen.
"Stop playing," a deep female voice echoed in the Spirit World. The voice of this unknown entity worsened the deterioration of the space as if this place were too small to contain their dialogue.
"I just wanted to see how these humans react," whispered another being. It was a woman's voice, and her words crept into the minds of those present as if they had always been there. They only understood gibberish, except for Séraphine.
"I want to finish my duty. Seriously, why do I keep finding elf stuff in our house?" the first presence complained. At that moment, something materialized in front of Rubin.
Like the child, this figure was red, but its body seemed to be made up of floating, vibrating points of energy. Some of the points were black and outlined the figure as if describing vague clothing.
The figure had no defined features except that it appeared humanoid. Séraphine saw the apparition of this being, and a name came to her instinctively, as if it were something every creature should know.
It was Calamity, or at least an avatar of this powerful spiritual being. A mere spiritual fragment could not withstand the arrival of something like her; her power was too great.
"I give you this child as a gift. I have no interest in him," Calamity said, dismissing Rubin with ease. The contempt in her voice was obvious.
"Are you interested in that Visionary? She's much bolder than those of the past," replied the other entity. Its hands reached out to the Crimson Child, who was under great pressure. He tried to resist, but one of those limbs was much larger than him and grabbed his body as if he were a chick.
Séraphine trembled, but a higher power held her head in place, forcing her to witness it all. Being closer to those hands, she could tell that their owner was another higher entity: the Whisperer. Or was it Whisperess? At this point, such nuances of language did not matter.
"A little. She smells like that annoying cat and the powerful, luminous bitch. It seems she was in contact with one of those disgusting creatures who only think about their own pleasure." The figure made of red dots approached the witch, reaching out to touch her face.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to do that," said Musu, who had materialized on Séraphine's shoulder. She looked at Calamity with her golden eyes. Calamity laughed when she saw the cat appear.
"Do those on your side have any intentions? Who would have thought that there would still be humans who want to be Visionaries?" the female entity said, mockingly.
"Us? What could those guys, who are just eyes, flesh, and tentacles, do? No, but their teacher would give you trouble. This place can't handle your power very well. You didn't sense that woman in this little witch," Musu replied, flashing a human-like smile on his cat-like face.
"Huh? I can smell that her curse has matured and... Huh? Do you really have that woman's scent on you? HAHAHAHA! That's funny! It looks like you'll have another spectator in your life: a human.
I'll let you go. I have to deal with the remains of those stinking elves. How dare they say their sharp ears are better than mine?" Calamity said, waving her hand in a human gesture and shooing Séraphine away as if she were an annoying fly.
"You're too soft, Calamity," the other entity whispered again. Her response was to simply raise her right hand and generate an orb of black energy with red rays crackling inside it.
"I'll destroy everything here. Run," said Calamity. Séraphine felt a smile on that featureless head.
Then, the witch felt the power blocking her head disappear and her eyes return to normal. However, all she could see was white because what she had just witnessed was so shocking, both physically and mentally, that her brain had temporarily stopped processing images.
"What are you doing standing there? Move!" Élodie suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to flee this place, accompanied by a sense of danger that made the hairs on her body stand on end.
She noticed that not only had Séraphine frozen, but her eyes were shining again. She approached Séraphine and carried her over her shoulder, despite her fatigue.
Although it felt like a long time had passed, only a few seconds had elapsed since the witch and Francisca raised the alarm. After all, time always seemed distorted when she became too immersed in her special vision.
By the time she returned to the real world, the police were holding her. Instead of resisting, she simply let them carry her away because her psyche had taken a heavy blow, and she was quite dazed. Besides, she couldn't see anything at all.
The other women also felt the sudden urge to escape. Not that any of them did anything about it; no one wanted to deal with the most dangerous things in the Spirit World.
When they stopped hiding, they saw Rubin being squeezed and turned back into a red sphere of energy. It rose, piercing the darkness surrounding the spiritual fragment and disappearing completely.
They realized that those entities had apparently let them go, so they ran like never before, wanting to escape this ruined Spiritual World.
Along the way, they found that the corrupted creatures did not dare move, staying where they were and watching from a distance. Even Nisca, who had returned to her humanoid mushroom form, merely raised her hand to wave goodbye to the women before waiting for something.
The imminent destruction of this place. Calamity watched the human who had caught her attention escape before laughing loudly as the black energy ball in her hand expanded to cover her entire body.
"It would be fun if you had pointed ears, but not everyone can be as perfect as I," she said before leaving. After all, it was uncomfortable for her to squeeze into a place that barely allowed her to move properly.
The dark energy expanded uncontrollably, accompanied by red rays that screeched as they shook. Its influence spread everywhere, erasing whatever it touched.
No trace or residue remained in its wake. The elven ruins, the corpses of Howard Stone and his group, and even the corrupted animals of Nisca disappeared just like that.
When the women left the abandoned factory, they were met by a group from the Tower and police officers. Before they could explain anything, however, the entire building began to erode, leaving only an empty space.
Rather, a huge, perfectly formed crater appeared in the ground. Its shape made it look as if it had always been there; it was so well integrated into the natural surroundings.
But they knew; they had seen how it had formed.
"Séraphine, you have a lot to answer for." Sophia, the blue-haired nun, approached the unusually quiet witch, who was still being carried on Élodie's shoulder.
"It would be nice if you healed us, you know? My nose is broken." After a few moments without responding, Séraphine exploded, shaking her body and causing Élodie to stumble. However, Francisca was close by to hold her up.
"I thought you'd be traumatized. You must have seen those creatures coming, right? I almost thought our adventure group had broken up too soon!" The redhead's words caused Séraphine to stop moving, but not before she snorted. It sounded funny because her nose was still injured.
Meanwhile, Élodie looked at the alchemist curiously. She didn't expect her to agree to the strange idea that had occurred to the witch the night before. Perhaps because they had worked well together or because of the intimate moment they had shared, Séraphine told her about the idea, and she agreed to join.
"Huh? You joined, too? But it all just started yesterday!" the blonde said with a hint of surprise. For some strange reason, the tense atmosphere began to dissipate. So much so that Sasha, the rather shy fairy, came out of Séraphine's cleavage and floated up to Élodie's head.
"I'll join, too!" Sasha declared arrogantly before hiding again in Élodie's blonde hair to hide from the greedy glances of some policemen.
"Not me. I don't want to go through that again. I'm sorry," Madeleine apologized, receiving looks from the fairy, Francisca, and Séraphine. The latter climbed down from the police officer's shoulder.
"Um, girls, we need answers," Sophia interrupted, coughing slightly. The witch touched her hat and covered her eyes as she replied.
"I'm not going to say anything with my voice sounding like this. Heal me, Soph," Séraphine demanded. The nun used her red eyes to pressure her, but Séraphine remained silent, waiting to be healed.
"I'll give you a deep purification while I'm at it. You have Lady Zhang on your side. She can pay the cost." Finally, Sophia gave in. She raised her golden staff and channeled the power of Mother Light.
Seeing this, Séraphine realized that she had interacted with three of the four most powerful entities in the Spiritual World, either directly or indirectly.
'That's so unfortunate,' the witch thought as she gazed at the red sun on the horizon, bringing this eventful day to an end.