March 11th, 2011.

On this day a powerful 9.1 magnitude undersea megathrust earthquake occurred to the east of Japan’s Oshika Peninsula. Known as the Great Tōhoku earthquake, this event caused a massive tsunami which led to the failure of the emergency generators at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the greatest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

The event served as yet another reminder of the terrifying power of nature and the fragility of human lives. Over 16k deaths and billions in economic damages from a freak occurrence that humans were powerless to stop.

That was the official story.

In reality, a seventeen year old witch from Sendai accidentally killed a mugger with a bolt of flame magic. Her handler got overzealous and called in backup from the Congregation instead of confronting the witch himself and getting all of the information behind the incident. This spooked the witch and she went on the run, which further pushed the Congregation operatives to hunt her down.

Eventually the witch became too stressed by the situation. She was cornered and succumbed to the influence of the devil, fearing the threat to her life from the modern day witch hunters.

Once that happened it was all over. The Congregation team was slaughtered and the devil-possessed witch triggered the earthquake in a bid to purge the region of human life. The witch was eventually killed due to a stacked backup team consisting of Congregation elites, but the domino effect of the earthquake was unstoppable.

This caused great pressure on the Congregation from the UN. While witches had succumbed and subsequently been taken out by the magical body before, this was by far the battle with the most public consequences in modern times. The whole incident only reinforced the already long-held belief in magical circles that witches should be ostracized and killed on sight should they succumb to their lord and master, the Father of Lies.

“Sons of Adam...allow me to bestow unto you the blessings of truth and the fruit of knowledge once again.”

This wasn’t a turn of phrase commonly found in the modern lexicon, and coming from Beth it was downright unnatural. A little girl like that had no place spewing some line straight out of a Bible drama.

If only that was the case. Unfortunately Levi wasn’t naive enough to believe that.

What stood before him was not a little girl, but something else. While it was the physical body he had encountered previously and even allowed to ride on his shoulders, he knew the spirit was gone. In all likelihood the stress of being trapped in the Twin Witch Engine had overtaken Beth and she had let this thing in instead.

The appropriate response to the situation was easy enough to remember. Kill on sight before it kills you. That simple instruction had been drilled into his brain countless times during his trainee days, but he’d never had to act on it. Now he was the face to face with a succumbed witch, one he had known beforehand no less.

All the training in the world couldn’t prepare someone for this.

“Who are you?” asked Levi. It was a pointless question as far as information was concerned, but at the very least he could get “Beth” talking to give everyone time to recover before the next inevitable conflict.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” growled Oscar. As Lorelei and Beth’s handler there was no doubt he had considered strategies for taking them out in just such a scenario. Knowing Oscar and knowing the power of a witch, however, all of the strategies assuredly relied on stealth and surprise.

The face to face confrontation they were having right now was the absolute worst case scenario for survival.

“I have many names, forms, concepts,” said Beth. “Yet my purpose remains the same. I am the bringer of light, here to return you to true existence.”

“Bringer of light...you don’t look like it,” commented Noelle. Even though she wasn’t native to the magic world she was sharp enough to be wary. Levi could see the apprehensive look on her face and the defensive position she took to block Lorelei and the creature from Beth’s sight.

Lorelei looked the worse for wear. As a witch herself she must have understood all too well the implications of what was happening. To have it happen to her own foster sister too...it was too cruel.

“Just a reference to a name,” said Levi. “‘Luciferus,’ the bringer of light.”

“L-Lucifer?!”

“Pretty much,” groaned Levi. “I’d tell you to take Lorelei and run, but...we’ve gone far past the point where that would do us any good.”

“I can feel your negativity from here, humans,” said Beth. “An unfortunate consequence of your existences here in the material world.” Beth spread her arms, as if offering love to her captive audience. “While it is brief, I can offer you purification within the Samsara. All I wish is for humanity to see the light by sending them there...yet you reject me always and choose to reincarnate in the material realm. Such tragic creatures, you are. You think and feel and have will, yet you choose to focus only on mundanity.”

“Excuse me for not believing you, but I have better things to do than listen to something that has a title like the Prince of darkness,” scoffed Oscar.

“True darkness is cleansing,” replied Beth. “Humanity is bathed in shadow, but it is the weak darkness of ignorance instead. I offer you a return to the soul’s true existence.”

“No deal,” said Levi. “I have things I need to do tomorrow. End the world on your own time.”

“Who cares?!” cried out a voice behind Levi, it was Dr. Bismark.

“My wife...my daughter...those are the important things here!” he spat deliriously as he stumbled towards Beth, gesturing frantically at the wreckage surrounding them. “Get back in the TWE! Please! I’ll do anything for you as long as you bring them back!”

Beth surveyed where Dr. Bismark was pointing. “You seek to have your soul united with theirs?”

“Yes!” said Dr. Bismarck. “I want nothing more! So...please!”

Beth raised a finger, bringing it to Dr. Bismark’s nose. “All souls travel back to the material realm after they are cleansed. You are already in the same place.”

“Cut the shit! Bring them here!”

“I see. Grief has clouded your perception. Fear not. Though fearfully momentary, returning to the Abyss and the Samsara will free you of such negativity.”

Beth tapped Dr. Bismark with her finger and withdrew it. Before the man had a chance to speak his body seized up and imploded in on itself until it had compressed into a marble-sized sphere of red. The compression done, the remains of Dr. Bismark dropped to the ground and splattered over the grass.

Levi heard heaving and turned towards it. Lorelei had lost control of her stomach and had begun vomiting. Noelle was trying her best to calm the girl but to no avail. Anybody would feel sick after seeing something like that.

Almost everyone that is. Levi didn’t have time to consider queasiness.

Scanning the grass he located Noelle’s pistol and walked over to it slowly. Any sudden movements stood a chance of alarming Beth and causing her to attack him preemptively.

Levi scooped up the pistol. Nothing looked damaged or jammed to him, it was still functional. He fiddled with the magazine to check the remaining ammo before pointing it at Beth.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” screamed Noelle.

Levi ignored her and fired a single shot. His aim was true and the bullet struck Beth directly in the center of her forehead. There was a sharp crash as the bullet deflected off of her and went flying off elsewhere. The girl remained unharmed.

“The gun didn’t work,” said Levi to Oscar as the other man came forward to stand by his side. “I’m not sure if it’s actual invulnerability or some form of sleight.”

“You caught its attention at least,” said Oscar. He was correct, Beth was now looking square at Levi. While no harm had befallen her it was evident she knew enough to treat his action as an attack. “We’re not at liberty to check what works and what doesn’t in a vacuum. This is about to get messy.”

“I’m aware,” said Levi.

Beth raised the palm of her hand towards the pair. “Enough,” she said to the both of them.

A beam of bright orange erupted from her hand. Levi and Oscar dived in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding it. Turning back, Levi watched as it pierced through cars in a far off lot and destroyed the wall of a distant building. He hoped it would fade before it reached the town proper.

Levi charged at Beth. He let loose another bullet as she approached to the same effect as the last one. She responded with a wave of her hand. Levi almost didn’t notice it, but the tips of the grass in front of Beth all broke off and fell to the ground.

Levi jumped and felt a gust of wind pass by underneath him. Beth’s spell had been a razorblade of wind. Had he not gotten airborne no doubt his feet would have been separated from the rest of his body.

Levi’s leg shot up at the peak of jump and he brought it down as he descended. With the forward momentum he had it would be just enough for his foot to reach Beth.

Levi’s axe kick came crashing down on her collarbone. The average grown man’s torso would have been shattered by the force Levi had put behind it, but his foot simply bounced off Beth like he had kicked a giant mass of rubber.

Levi noticed Oscar bringing his blade down in the corner of his eye. Beth and Levi both jumped back. Oscar’s blade hit the ground with great force, sending pebbles and rubble flying in all directions.

I was small but Levi noticed the first bit of hope since Beth had succumbed. One of the pebbles nicked her and opened up a cut on her cheek. Fresh blood poured down it, the sole injury on Beth’s body even though Oscar and Levi had both employed deadly force.

“You see her jump back?” asked Oscar, returning to Levi’s side.

“Yeah. She got cut too. Maybe she’s afraid of your sword?”

“Only one way to find out!” said Oscar as he leaped forward.

The sword flew in a horizontal streak and plowed towards Beth’s neck. She made no effort to move as the slash hit its mark.

The blade bounced off her. There was no sign of injury, let alone a decapitation.

Beth flicked her wrist and Oscar was sent flying into a wall. He broke through it and was sent tumbling into the interior of the building.

Levi fired another shot from the pistol to take Beth’s attention off Oscar. She responded with a wall of wind. While it wasn’t razor sharp like her prior attack, it was powerful enough to blow Levi off his feet and cause him to drop the gun. Levi was sent tumbling a fair distance away, leaving Noelle and Lorelei the closest to Beth.

Beth approached the girls with a raised palm. Levi got up to help, but stumbled. The blow had dizzied him, and he knew from experience it would take a moment for his body to sort the impact out. A moment Lorelei and Noelle didn’t have.

“Sis..,” he could hear Lorelei whine. Noelle scooted in front of the girl, putting herself between Lorelei and Beth.

“You are a fellow to this child,” said Beth to Lorelei. ‘Why not join my brood?”

“Beth...give her back…,” pleaded Lorelei.

“I’m afraid there is no way back. Once one of my children fulfills their duty there is no other path open to them.”

“I...I’m sorry!” yelled Lorelei. Lightning arced from her fingertips and struck Beth in the chest. Even that attack had done nothing.

“If you will not join me...then you must be returned to the Samsara.” Beth prepared to strike.

Noelle interrupted Beth’s strike. She put Beth’s head in a clinch and drove a knee into her face. Beth quickly snapped her neck upwards, throwing Noelle high up into the air. The policewoman landed on her back with a dull thud. Even from an appreciable distance away Levi could hear the impact drive the breath from her body.

“Shit!” he exclaimed, stumbling towards her. Checking Noelle over, he found that she was still lucid and breathing. Good. He was afraid the impact may have been strong enough to send her into shock.

Beth glared at them, a fresh stream of blood trickling from her nostril. “I will not tolerate any more interference,” she growled, an unearthly baritone layered on top of her normal speaking voice.

A ball of blue flame appeared in her hand. She threw it hundreds of meters into the air until it was barely visible.

A deafening roar assaulted the area and hot wind pushed against Levi. The ball of blue flame expanded until it had illuminated the area as if it were the sun itself.

“Five more minutes of preparation should do it,” said Beth. “There are currently over 100,000 souls to cleanse in flame in the immediate area.”

“What...100,000?” groaned Noelle from the ground. “What is she…?”

Levi swallowed heavily. “That’s...that’s the population of the entire county.”

Five minutes...that’s all they had until flames washed over upper New York state. Even if just the county was burnt the heat and aftereffects would no doubt destroy even more lives outside the range of the blast.

“Not even the Congregation can cover that up,” commented Oscar as he removed himself from the hole in the building his own body had caused. Pain strained his voice. While Levi knew Oscar had received training to shift his internal magic enough to avoid a fatal blow, he had most likely been caught off guard and had some internal bleeding.

Beth’s attention returned to Lorelei. “You first. I cannot allow you to stop the cleanse.”

A bolt of green light struck Beth in the back, distracting her. Levi turned to face the direction it had come from and was met with a distressed Talise.

“Fine mess you’ve gotten in!” she yelled at the group.

Talise gestured and Lorelei was pulled away from Beth towards Talise. “I’ve sent for reinforcements!” she said. “They should be here in ten minutes!”

“That’s great! We only have five before that blue sun makes an impact!” yelled Levi in response.

Talise didn’t respond. She instead raised her hand and pushed forth a wave of green energy.

It crashed on top of Beth, but none of it managed to hit her. The green power instead flowed around the girl, she had already prepared a barrier to block Talise’s assault.

“A hint of a draconic element,” murmured Beth. “This stream carries a small portion of the kin of the serpent, but it is weak. Such a farce from you, woman. Who do you think you are?”

“I’m just a civil servant!” replied Talise. “And I can’t let you carry on any farther!”

An orange bolt of power shot through the green stream and struck Talise’s arms.

“AAAARRRGGGHHHH!” yelled the woman in agony. The energy went straight from burns to scars on her hands.

“You employ a mockery of my kin’s power, yet you cannot process purified dragon breath. Never show me something so ridiculous again.” mocked Beth.

Electricity arced in Beth’s fist as she raised it to the sky. She brought it to the ground and four bolts of lightning shot from it. Talise was caught defenseless and a bolt hit her dead-on. Lorelei fared better, able to put up a barrier to dissipate the lightning.

Oscar blocked with his sword but the charge still hit him like a truck. He was sent spinning to the ground, not prepared for so much damage to still make its way through to him.

Levi wanted to roll away from his lightning bolt, but that would sign up Noelle to be hit by it in his place. Instead, he brought his arms up in a guard and poured as much magic as he could accumulate in the time he had into them.

Searing pain flooded his arms as the sleeves of his shirt were burned off by the lightning. Even so, Levi held strong. One slip up and Noelle would take the hit instead, and without magical defenses she would surely die.

Just as his strength was beginning to fade, a black blur shifted from his peripheral vision to in front of him. It was a featureless cat, the creature that he had seen in town twice before. It took the remainder of the hit and was thrown backwards. Miraculously it remained standing, although shaking.

Beth stopped to ponder for a moment before pointing towards Lorelei. She had been watching the group’s response and targeted a focused attack on the one best able to resist her power.

A stream of orange shot out and made impact with Lorelei’s barrier. The stream sustained itself, renewed continuously from Beth’s palm like an elongated flame from a welding torch. Slowly but surely, the sustained devilish energy began to eat its way through Lorelei’s shield. Soon enough Beth would break through completely and roast her sister to death with dragon’s breath.

The black creature began to walk forward, towards Lorelei. It was still unsteady on its feet but it refused to falter. Did it intend to get between the white haired girl and the bright beam of certain death she struggled against?

“Are you really planning to go in there?” asked Levi.

The creature looked back at him momentarily before continuing forward towards Lorelei.

“The balls on this thing...alright fine!” exclaimed Levi as he picked himself up. “I’ll join you on this gamble!” Levi took off into a sprint, picking up the black creature as he overtook it.

“You ready for this?” he asked. It nodded to his query, one last affirmation before the two of them plunged into the pit of hell.

Levi reached Lorelei and the black thing leaped from his arms towards the girl. Levi did the same, pouring every last ounce of magic he had left over into his back.

Just as the shield gave way and shattered Levi pulled Lorelei to his chest and covered her. The black thing stretched out and laid on his back in turn.

The pain was immediate as the orange beam cut into the black creature and his back. It sunk in a bit but was stopped. Between the unknown properties of the creature’s body and Levi’s magic they were keeping the energy at bay for now.

However, Levi knew it wouldn’t last. His magic was depleting rapidly and there was no guarantee he’d even be able to stay conscious through the pain long enough to tap the bottoms of his magic pool. On top of this he could no longer move. He had only a short while before the beam pierced him and blew a hole through Lorelei as well.

The stress of the situation overtook Lorelei and she sobbed into Levi’s chest, her tears evaporating the instant they formed from the overbearing heat of Beth’s magic. Even under such an assault Lorelei stood strong, Levi could tell that she wouldn’t succumb no matter what. It was a small blessing seeing as how the two of them were about to be killed, but a blessing nonetheless.

“Oscar! Noelle!” yelled Levi with the last of his strength. “I can give you ten more seconds! Figure out how to attack her and end this! I can’t offer any more than that!”

“Oscar! Noelle! I can give you ten more seconds! Figure out how to attack her and end this! I can’t offer any more than that!” Levi’s yell came through loud and clear to Noelle.

The sight before her eyes was horrifying.

Levi and the black creature were both covering Lorelei with their own bodies. Beth’s magic was hitting them dead on. She had already seen a similar attack destroy multiple cars and cave in the side of a building.

Levi was dead.

The creature was dead.

It was already set in stone. There was no way to stop Beth. She would kill them and Lorelei too before inevitably fixing her aggression on Noelle and the others.

Noelle spared a glance at her future killer. Beth had wrought so much damage yet all she had to show for it on her own body was a cut on her cheek and a measly nosebleed.

All that for so little damage. How were they supposed to finish her in ten seconds?

How had she even gotten hurt at all?

The floodgates burst apart in Noelle’s mind, filling her vision with fresh memories.

Levi had kicked Beth and right after...right after she had dodged Oscar’s sword. The rubble kicked up by his swing had cut her cheek.

When Noelle had put Beth in a clinch, it felt wrong. Normally Noelle’s fingers would have sunk into the girl’s hair, but she had grabbed something else. Noelle’s fingers had slipped right off, they never touched Beth. She had grabbed something imperceptibly close to the girl’s body instead.

But her knee had definitely hit Beth’s nose. Noelle had felt it, and Beth’s nosebleed was proof enough that some form of contact had been made.

One move had never touched the girl, but the next one did.

A succumbed witch who could block a bullet with her forehead had been hurt by a simple knee to the face from a powerless human like Noelle.

It was a barrier! An absolute barrier that blocked anything! And between those barriers there was a gap.

Beth was weak to consecutive attacks. That’s why she dodged the sword!

Noelle’s eyes slammed all around her skull, looking for something.

There it was, only five meters away. Her standard issue Smith & Wesson pistol. Levi had fired a few shots but there should still be some ammo left.

Noelle scrambled towards the weapon. She was still weak from being thrown and had to crawl, but she had to make it. Levi had given her ten seconds and ten seconds only.

She reached out and the tips of her fingers brushed the grip, hope welled within her.

“Oscar!” she screamed into the night. “Attack her now! Please, you have to trust me!”

Oscar did as he said and readied his blade. He charged towards Beth with a yell, but she paid him no mind.

Noelle took aim with her gun, she had Beth in her sights.

Beth...who had been a cheery ordinary girl only a few hours beforehand.

Could she do this?

Oscar had reached Beth by now. He swung his blade downwards in a diagonal arc. Beth still paid nary a sliver of attention towards him, as she knew the blade would not harm her.

“D-ddddaaaaaammmmnnn itttt!” yelled Noelle in sorrow as she pulled the trigger.

There was a loud roar as the bullet exploded out of the barrel. It traveled the distance between Noelle and Beth in less than the blink of an eye, striking Beth in the shoulder before harmlessly deflecting elsewhere.

A look of surprise flashed upon Beth’s face.

Oscar’s blade came down in a brutal silver streak.

A mist of blood shot up in the air.

Everyone was silent as the gigantic blue ball of flame in the sky disappeared.

Lorelei broke the silence, a crushing wail rose from her throat and spread throughout the evening.

The succumbed witch, Beth, had been stopped.

And the happy little girl, Beth, was dead.