Summary: In which the world is cast in darkness after Goetia regains her powers and contaminates the Yggdrasil once more. Amongst despair, a single source of light emerges to guide the witches toward hope.

Act VII. iii. A Believing Heart - Claiomh_Solais

When Akko finally pries open her eyes, it feels like someone took a sledgehammer and smashed it against her skull. She rolls her head to the side as her eyes adjust to waking up.

To her confusion, the vision on her right side seems incomplete. When Akko reaches up, she's surprised to find a cloth tied around the right side of her head.

Someone swats her hand away. "Don't fidget with that. Do you want to lose your sanity?"

"Nurse… Ophelia?"

"That's right. Welcome back to my infirmary, Miss Kagari. Just when it's reconstructed you come right back. Now if only your other half was also here."

Akko shoots up from her bed. "Where's-?!" Akko groans, gripping her dizzy head.

"What did I just tell you?! Oh you absurd-!" Ophelia braces Akko's back, letting her regain her bearings. "You've gone through quite an ordeal. Your coordination will be off for a bit with one eye covered. It doesn't help that you were possessed by the Demon Witch."

"I was… Right, I was possessed! And then Diana found me, and I passed out!" Akko looks around the infirmary. "So where's Diana and the others?"

Ophelia purses her lips. "Quite a bit has happened since you were brought here."

"Start with Diana. Where is she? What happened after I passed out? Is the Demon Witch still possessing me? What about everyone else? Did that Witch make me do anything ba-?"

"That is not just starting with Miss Cavendish." Ophelia sighs. "Look out the window. That will help me as I explain the situation."

Ophelia leans Akko back against the bed so that she can turn her head without aggravating her injury. With just one eye, all Akko finds is pitch darkness from the window.

"Uh, do you have curtains covering the window or something? I can't see anything."

"Exactly. This is the Demon Witch's doing."

"Wha-What…?"

"Magic is no longer within our control. Like a repeat of the incident thousands of years ago, it seems that the Demon Witch has once more corrupted the leylines of the Yggdrasil and taken magic for herself. We are now powerless against her."

"Then… how are we supposed to fight back?! Isn't she basically invincible?!" Akko blinks. "Actually, why are we all still alive? If she has all this power, how come she hasn't killed or enslaved us all yet?"

"Theoretically she should be. However, some immediate countermeasures were implemented while you were unconscious. I do not completely understand the mechanisms, but it appears we can still utilize the energy from philosopher's stones to cast spells that can limit the Demon Witch's area of influence. Though that doesn't change the fact that we cannot access the realm which the Demon Witch is in right now."

"If we can't get to her, we can't beat her." Akko groans. "I'm guessing Diana and the others are helping with whatever's going on."

"Your friends, yes," replies a voice that doesn't belong to Ophelia.

Akko looks beside her and finds the bed next to hers occupied. "Oh, hey Daniel. Oh geez, you look pretty bad."

Daniel chuckles. "Speak for yourself. I'm not the one who lost an eye. I still have my limbs." When he tries to move his left arm, the exertion earns him a painful grimace. "Even if they are broken."

"You broke your right arm again? Wait, when'd you even get here?"

Daniel shakes his head to dismiss the question. "That's a rather long story. To put it simply, I had asked your friend Lotte to help me speak to the Brisingr, got caught in your Demon Witch business once more, and gotten possessed. Somehow during the shuffle I had both my arms broken. And now I am confined to bed while the world falls to pieces."

A knock against the infirmary doors interrupts the nurse. Lotte's head appears from behind the door with a sheepish smile.

"Hi Nurse Ophelia, we came to check on-" her eyes light up, "Akko!"

Lotte is pushed down by Amanda, who shoves herself into the infirmary with a gleeful grin. "Akko's awake?! Finally! Thought you'd sleep forever!"

"It's only been five hours," Sucy drawls, also coming into the infirmary.

"You guys!" Akko calls out.

Amanda points to her right eye. "Guess you got a new battle scar, eh? Geez, your luck's seriously rotten. Losing an eye and being possessed by the Demon Witch? I'm never questioning your luck again."

Akko's hand comes up to rest against the cloth tied around her eye. "What is this thing, anyway? It doesn't feel like a bandage."

"It isn't. And you'd do well not to touch it." Ophelia swats Akko's hand away again. "That is the Sash of Saint Martha. It contains sealing properties because it was used by the saint to tame the beast Tarasque."

"Apparently it's the only thing keeping that devil's eye in your socket from driving you insane," Sucy says.

Akko cocks her head. "What devil's eye?"

"When the Demon Witch was possessing your body, she replaced your own eye with the previous general's Mystic Eye of Prediction," Ophelia explains.

"I thought it went missin-? Ohhh… so that's where it went."

"That eye used to belong to a demon, and normal humans don't really bond well with demon parts," Lotte adds. "We couldn't bring Lady Rakshtha over to seal it completely, so Hannah suggested the next best thing would be to use a magical item to temporarily cover it up."

"You lucked out for Luna Nova to conveniently have something like this. Guess your luck ain't always bad, eh?" Amanda teases.

"Hey, I'm not always unlucky!" Akko huffs. "So… I'm okay then?"

Ophelia nods. "As long as you don't remove that sash, you should be fine until an alternative mode of transportation out of Luna Nova is developed."

"Well, even if you remove that thing you should still be fine," Sucy comments. "Unlike the Demon Witch, it's not entirely impossible to overpower the demon's influence in that eye. And you're hard headed enough to actually have a chance."

Akko scoffs. "As if I'd lose to some dead demon."

"Yeah, Akko will definitely be fine."

Amanda turns to Daniel. "By the way, Jasminka says she's sorry for breaking your arm."

"Oh, so that is her name." Daniel chuckles. "It's alright. It was necessary for the situation."

Amanda frowns. "Hey, about your sword-"

Daniel shakes his head. "I understand the situation. However, Akko here does not."

Akko tilts her head. "What does your sword have to do with anything? Did you lose it?"

"Well…" Amanda mutters. "Diana kind of has it."

Akko blinks, still confused. "And that's bad because…?"

"She… kind of got pulled away by the Demon Witch right after you fell unconscious…"

"WHAT?!"

"Or more like she let herself get pulled away."

"Thi-This is a joke right?" Akko looks back and forth from her friends and Nurse Ophelia. "Right…?"

Ophelia sighs. "I wish it was so, Miss Kagari."

"Wait, you said I've been unconscious for five hours. So Diana's been missing for five hours?!"

Akko throws the bedcovers away from her body and moves her legs off the bed. In her haste and imbalance, she ends up tumbling off the bed with the covers still tangled around her. A shock of pain jars through her, but she easily pushes that aside to focus on getting out of the infirmary.

"And where do you think you're going?!" Ophelia demands.

Akko picks herself up and yells, "To find Diana!"

"To find- That's impo-!"

Akko doesn't hear the rest as she rushes out of the infirmary. She can barely hear the others calling for her through the blood roaring in her ears. She bumps into random students rushing back and forth throughout the campus for whatever errand they're running. Akko ignores their indignant cries and keeps running.

Everyone is busy with whatever Nurse Ophelia had said everyone was doing to counter the Demon Witch. But there's one vital person who could have been a great asset. If only she was here.

(Not again! I'm not letting Diana leave me again!)

Reassuring thoughts rush through Akko's mind as she runs around the school looking for Diana, the Demon Witch, or both. But no matter how hard she runs, she finds neither on Luna Nova's campus. As her physical energy dies down, so does her hope.

The last place she tries is in front of the school's leyline terminal. Akko drops to her knees, landing on the soft, cool grass on her knees and palms.

"No way…"

(Is this going to happen again?!)

Akko brings her fist up and hits the ground. As her anger grows, she loses the strength to hold back frustrated tears.

"Again!" Pound. "Why?!" Pound. "Why does this have to keep happening?!" Slam. "Wasn't dying once already enough?!"

Hands wrap around Akko's fist before she can bring it down again. Akko's breath hitches in her throat. Through her blurry eyes, she finds Ursula looking down at her with sad sympathy.

"Don't hurt yourself, Akko," Ursula soothes. She gingerly uncurls Akko's clenched fist to rub the raw skin. "That kind of pain won't help you feel better. The kind of agony you're going through… that can't be mitigated so easily."

"Professor…" Another round of tears wells in Akko's eyes. "What… What am I supposed to do?!"

Ursula's defeated expression tells her enough. "I don't know, Akko. It's known that the Demon Witch and Diana are somewhere in the leylines. But with most of magic no longer in our control, we can't access any of the leylines right now."

Akko shakes her head and wipes her tears with her other arm. "There has to be something! We can't just not do anything!"

(What if Diana is already-)

Akko refuses to finish that thought.

"And what do you think everyone else is doing?"

Hannah's patronizing voice draws Akko's attention from Ursula to the other girls standing around her. Hannah and Barbara are together as usual. Both their eyes are red, probably just like how Akko's looks.

Jasminka and Constanze join Amanda by her side. Bandages wrap around Jasminka's palms; the only indication of any new injuries since the last time Akko saw them.

Meanwhile, Lotte drops down next to Akko while Sucy stands behind her.

"Everyone's doing everything they can," Lotte says. "It's been nonstop since the Demon Witch left your body and escaped with Diana."

"Yeah, you have no idea how hard it's been," Barbara says. "Teachers are having students look up and use every anti-magic spell we can find just to keep Luna Nova safe from the Demon Witch's influence. They're even having first years use spells that they'd probably never use in their entire lifetime."

Hannah sighs. "It's taking everything we've got just to keep the Demon Witch back. It's not just that we don't have the leylines at her disposal. Her magic is actually contaminating magical creatures who normally rely on the leylines as a life source. The Ministry knows of a way to stop the Demon Witch from affecting more of the world and also to reverse its effects, but most of the defense is coming from regular humans."

"Bet the Ministry never thought they'd cooperate with the military after what happened last year." Amanda shakes her head. "The world's seriously fucked up right now."

"That's still not enough, but it's better than nothing," Sucy says. "Except now the rest of the work's been thrown on us. And we're nowhere closer to finding a way to get to the Demon Witch, let alone defeat her."

"Diana and I went to get something that should work, but we didn't have time to try it," Lotte adds. "And Diana has the stone right now."

"So even if we wanted to launch an attack, our only weapon's not with us. This fucking sucks. Who even knows if Diana's still-" Amanda growls to herself, putting a stop to that thought. "Nah. That perfect stuck up wouldn't kick the bucket like that."

"Except she did," Sucy points out.

Hannah glares at Sucy. "Diana knows better than that now. She won't die."

"But it's the Demon Witch," Jasminka points out. "If she controls all magic from the Yggdrasil, what can Diana do? What can any of us do? We won't be able to keep her back for long."

"That demon of yours know of any way?" Amanda asks.

Jasminka shakes her head. "The first time the Demon Witch and the other demons from Purgatorio were defeated, the Nine Olde Witches still had the Shiny Rod with them. And it took all of them just to seal her."

"The Shiny Rod…" Ursula whispers. Her eyes widen. "Yes, the Shiny Rod's first word would be able to forcibly open a portal into the leyline. We'd be able to pursue the Demon Witch that way. But…"

"The Shiny Rod's main use was to restore the Yggdrasil to its full health and bring magic back to the world," Sucy says. "It disappeared when that was done. So now what?"

"Would Miss Croix be able to recreate the Shiny Rod?" Barbara asks Ursula. "The giant missile that she made to revive magic was a close replica of the Shiny Rod, right?"

Ursula shakes her head. "The Noir Rod only shared a similar appearance. Its functions are completely different. And even if we had the blueprints for the Shiny Rod, it'd take too long to make."

"I saw the Shiny Rod in my dreams," Akko says once she's calmed down. "Or, I guess it was actually my inner world. Yuzu and I used it to kick the Demon Witch out of my body."

"Wait, wait." Amanda shakes her head. "Did you just say Yuzu? And get rid of the Demon Witch? You sure you didn't just lucid dream this?"

"Then again, that does explain how you managed to purge the Demon Witch from your body," Ursula remarks. "You're saying you used to Shiny Rod to banish the Demon Witch?"

Akko nods. "The Shiny Rod's constellation was in the sky. With Yuzu's help, we managed to call it down so we could shoot down the Demon Witch with the Shiny Arc. Except bigger, and it was more like we were shooting at nothing and everything at the same time."

"I'd call bullshit but you're here right now so fuck it," Amanda says.

"Okay, that's great and all but can you summon it outside of your inner world?" Hannah asks.

Akko jumps to her feet. "Shiny Rod! I summon thee!"

As expected, nothing happens.

"ARG! Come on! Why does it have to not listen to me now?!" Akko stomps around and yells into the sky, "Shiny Rod! Shiny Rod! Come out already!"

"Akko, that isn't going to-" Ursula sighs. "If only Professor Woodward could offer one last guidance…"

Amanda scoffs. "Knowing Akko's luck, it's not gonna answer her even if she bows her head and sobs. We're better off hoping Croix and those stuffy people at the Ministry find a way into the leylines first."

"Or the world ends," Sucy comments.

"Yeah, I'd believe that first," Hannah says.

"You guys should trust Akko more," Lotte admonishes.

Barbara sighs. "Lotte, we would. We really would. But things aren't looking good. And Akko's story about shooting the Demon Witch out of her body still seems too good to be true."

Akko whirls around and glares at Barbara. "It is true! And I'll get the Shiny Rod out even if I have to pry my brain open!"

"That's not how it works!"

Akko knocks her knuckles against her temples. "AAHHHHH! Come on! I just need one Shiny Arc so I can save Diana! Just give me that!"

"And then how do you plan on fighting the Demon Witch?" Hannah wonders.

"I'll…" Akko furrows her brows. "I'll transform into an elephant and sit on her!"

"Seriously? Even if you could use magic, that's such a stupid idea of all ideas!"

"Then I'll just punch her!"

"That's not how it works!"

"Chances are you'll end up obliterated before even getting within a meter of the Demon Witch," Sucy says.

"I don't care! I'll figure it out after I've found Diana! I won't let her leave me again!" Akko stomps up to the inactive leyline terminal and glares at it with all her might. "Open up! Right now!"

Hannah slaps her face. "She's lost it. She's completely losing it."

"Hey you would too if Barbara was gonna die a second time," Amanda remarks.

"Did you seriously just call us out like that?" Barbara asks, offended. But neither she nor Hannah refute it.

Akko growls. "You stupid Demon Witch. If you're not scared of me, if you think I'm nothing, then let me through! I'm not a problem, right?! So it shouldn't matter if I cross over or not!"

Akko's shoulders slump. She drops onto her knees and clenches her eyes shut to stop herself from crying again.

"I can't… I can't let her take away everything again! Stupid, old, creepy, evil- ARG! When people die they're supposed to stay dead!"

"Uh… Akko," Amanda says. But Akko doesn't pay attention to her.

"Okay that could apply to Diana too but she's nice so she doesn't count. And I guess technically the Demon Witch didn't die. Wait, does it count as dying if her own body's gone?"

This time, Hannah calls out to her. "Hey, Akko."

Akko still ignores the others. "Why'd she have to come out of her tree anyway? Someone should've just cut it down. Yeah she reeks of evil but there's gotta be a good woodcutter somewhere right?"

"Akko!" Ursula shouts.

That finally catches Akko's attention. "What is it?!"

Eight fingers point at the spot in front of Akko. Akko turns around and stares at the spot on the grass that should be empty. Wrapped in vines and leaves, just like the first time Akko found the object in the Arcturus Forest, is their final trump card.

"This is…the Shiny Rod?" Akko whispers.

"I'm impressed. I've never heard someone blabber for this long about that Witch. The profanity was amusing too," remarks a voice Akko doesn't expect to hear.

Akko snaps her head up. Floating on the other side of the item growing from the ground is none other than Alaya, one of the Nine Olde Witches.

"You're… that lady who cursed Diana!"

"As I explained before, that was not directly my fault. But I suppose it's impossible to reason with you."

"She has every right to be angry." Another familiar Nine Olde Witch materializes beside Alaya. The signature Cavendish hairstyle glows with the rest of her ethereal body. "I will never forgive you for being the reason my descendant died an early death."

Alaya scoffs. "Your entire family is too altruistic for its own good. You can't blame me for your ludicrous good will."

"Uh…" Akko cocks her head. "So what's going on?"

The wind blows, creating a cyclone of glowing leaves that reveals another woman that is both familiar yet not to Akko. She feels like she's seen this woman before, but can't remember from where.

"You have another destiny, Atsuko Kagari," she says.

"Professor Woodward!" Ursula exclaims.

The woman nods to Ursula. "We meet again, Chariot. Though I wish it would be in better circumstances."

"What's this about another destiny for Akko?" Sucy asks.

"The Claiomh Solais has appeared once more for one last task," Woodward states. "As its summoner, Atsuko Kagari must use it to fulfill the destiny we could not."

Beatrix sighs. "There's no need to be so cryptic. This isn't a destiny, this is a final chance. To save who you love, to save all you love- the Claiomh Solais answered your calls to fulfill your wish."

From behind the three women, six other ethereal bodies manifest. Akko doesn't recognize any of them, but guesses they're the rest of the Nine Olde Witches that she never got to meet.

"We failed the first time," Alaya admits. "There's no guarantee that you can do better. But I doubt that Witch will let herself be sealed again. So it's either kill her or let her destroy everything."

"Stop Goetia before it's too late, and save the world," Woodward states.

Akko shakes her head. "I don't care if this is my destiny or not. I'd sit through an entire lifetime of Magic History classes if it means saving Diana. I won't let her, or the world we both live in, be destroyed by that evil old hag."

Alaya nudges Beatrix. "This one's the type to spit on a god if it meant dragging her loved ones back from death. Your descendant picked a good one. Her mother before her as well. I don't remember you having such good intuition about partners."

Woodward quirks an eyebrow but doesn't reply.

"So we have the Shiny Rod now, and Akko can use that to open a portal into the leyline," Hannah says. "Then what? How do we fight against the Demon Witch? If even the Nine Olde Witches, who also had the Shiny Rod, couldn't do more than seal her away, how are we supposed to win?"

Amanda smirks. "Heh. And that's where we come in."

"Oh yeah? What've you got up your sleeve, hotshot?"

Amanda flashes Constanze a thumbs up. "You got the go, Constanze!"

Constanze answers back with her own thumbs up. She brings out a remote and presses a button.

Hannah raises an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to do? Blow up the Demon Wi-?"

The earth quakes. Shouts of surprise come from somewhere away from the school grounds where the lake is.

Something soars through the sky. As it comes closer, it becomes easier to discern what it is. It's a bird? No, a plane. No, it's…

"Grand Charion?!" Akko and the others yell.

The giant mecha lands on the grass beside them and strikes a pose, copying Constanze who shows off her revamped creation with pride.

"It's finally ready?!" Akko shouts.

"Grand Charion 2.0!" Stanbot beeps.

"So this is what you guys have been working on for weeks?" Barbara asks.

Amanda's haughty grin answers her question enough. "Heh. Diana's not the only one who thought of a trump card."

"Not that it's useful if you can't get to the Demon Witch anyway," Sucy remarks.

"Hey, we were gonna get to that!"

"But how is it being powered? I thought we couldn't use magic anymore," Lotte says.

Constanze presses another button on her remote. It activates a latch in the middle of the Grand Charion's chest and reveals a giant philosopher's stone embedded in the center.

"How did you girls even order such a huge stone?!" Ursula shakes her head. "Oh! Now's not the time! You girls wait right here. I'll be right back!"

Ursula rushes back into the school. Meanwhile, a few students and staff have come out to see what all the commotion is about.

"Is that the machine that won in the Wild Hunt two years ago?"

"Wow! It's so much bigger up close!"

"Wait, aren't those the Nine Olde Witches?"

"I've never seen their spirits before!"

"I thought some of them could only appear during specific times?"

Akko ignores all of the side comments. She reaches down and plucks the Shiny Rod from the ground.

"That is yours now, Atsuko Kagari," Woodward says. "Unfortunately, we do not have the strength nor abilities to fight alongside you. The most we can do is offer our essences to amplify the power of the Claiomh Solais. We cannot do much beyond that. Even appearing before you at this time is an overexertion."

Alaya rolls her eyes. "Well, my tree nearly got pulverized within the first hour. I won't be able to do much even if you offered your entire life's worth and begged."

"But how do I defeat the Demon Witch?" Akko asks.

"You will know when the time comes," Woodward says. "Remember what you yourself have paved the road for when others could not before you. 'Connect with other people, and your dreams will grow.' You already possess the strength to stand against the Demon Witch."

"Okay, but some tips would be nice. You know, like techniques and stuff? So we don't all die and let the world end."

"Hope and determination are qualities that Goetia disparages," Beatrix offers. "However, it is because those are qualities she can never fathom. She may call them weaknesses, but they are strengths of their own. Remember this, and you will have a chance of defeating her."

"Just a chance?" Amanda scoffs. "That's pretty reassuring."

"Well, Akko's got the determination part down at least," Sucy remarks.

"Akko!" Ursula calls out. "Akko! Before you go!" Ursula stops in front of their group and holds out a few fragments of philosopher's stones as she catches her breath. "Take these with you! You'll need them since you can't use magic as we've been for the past year."

Akko takes one of the stones. "Thanks, Professor!"

Once the others have also taken one and pocketed it, Akko turns to the black leyline terminal and holds out the Shiny Rod with her left hand.

"Noctu Orfei!"

Gold energy encompasses the Shiny Rod, changing its form into a bow. This time, it's a normal size just right for Akko's use.

"Aude Fraetor!"

With her right hand, Akko grasps for the bowstring and pulls back, drawing energy to create and notch an arrow at the same time.

"Shinyyyyyyyy-! ARCCCCCCCCC!"

With her aim right, Akko releases the arrow and imbues the leyline terminal with the Rod's magic. The arrow tears through space and time, opening a portal into the leyline, now red as a reminder that it has been corrupted by Goetia.

"The Demon Witch is most likely in the Arcturus Forest, where her tree should still be," Ursula informs. "She's completely sealed it off so no one can approach it normally, but the Shiny Rod is no normal weapon."

Akko nods. "Got it. I'll just have to shoot another Shiny Arc to open a portal into the Forest. Doesn't sound too bad. Maybe."

"Akko." Hannah strides up with her lips pursed. Barbara follows right behind her.

"Yeah? What's up?" Akko asks. "You guys scared?"

"Yeah. We're pretty scared. And we also know we won't be much help. So…" Hannah looks away, "we're counting on you to bring Diana back for us!"

"What? You guys turning chicken when it matters most?!" Amanda shouts.

Barbara rolls her eyes. "You're the one who said we should focus on where we can help out the most, right? And we're smart enough to know that that's not going to be where you guys are going. We're better off keeping the Demon Witch from wrecking everything first."

"We want to be there for Diana." Hannah clenches her fists. "But there's no point if we end up dying without helping much. So we can only count on you guys."

"The girls are right. It's better to know where you can make the greatest changes than to stubbornly insist on doing something out of your capabilities," Ursula says.

"Just don't die," Barbara adds.

Amanda smirks. "We'll come back as the biggest damn heroes."

Hannah rolls her eyes. "As if the girls don't swoon for you enough."

Amanda blinks. "Wait, what'd you just say?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Don't you have an evil witch to kill?!"

"And Diana to save?" Barbara adds.

Akko nods. With the Shiny Rod in her hands, her friends to back her up, and hope in her heart, she's ready to fight back against despair once and for all.

Diana jolts awake. She hadn't even realized that she fell unconscious. She takes a moment to regain her bearings.

Hands, arms, legs, torso, head- it seems she isn't missing anything vital. Even though her body feels like lead, Diana manages to sit up by bracing herself with her shaking arms. Her cloak has long been discarded. Her tattered and ruined clothes are the only evidence of the attacks she endured against Goetia.

The brutal assaults that she had nearly died from.

Without a source of magic, there was nothing Diana can do against the Demon Witch who controls all of the Yggdrasil. Not to mention that the reach of her shadows extends to all of the Arcturus Forest. The Brisingr could only serve as a regular sword unless Diana wanted to deplete her own life energy just for a miniscule chance to release a blast from the sword.

The battle - if it can even be called one - was too one sided. Diana remembers blacking out after the first spell, only to regain consciousness when she felt her bones being forcibly mended by Goetia's magic. Then right after standing back up, Goetia would blast her again and repeat the cycle. She had lasted another four spells from Goetia before falling unconscious for a longer period of time.

(Why had she left me alive?)

Diana easily spots Goetia floating in the sky. She isn't able to discern Goetia's thoughts; not without any facial expressions. But Diana doesn't draw her attention even as she picks up the Brisingr.

(If I use the Brisingr from here, I will surely fall unconscious and leave myself at the Demon Witch's mercy. But I cannot use Lady Amelia's spirit from afar. How-?)

"Ah, you're still alive," Goetia remarks. "I had thought you succumbed to the last spell after you remained unconscious even after I restored your body. I suppose I must give you more credit. Though, you were unconscious for quite some time. Are you ready to try again?"

"Why do you not simply kill me? What is the point of keeping me alive?"

"I am interested in whatever tactic you have in mind," Goetia replies, taking Diana off guard. Is she so obvious? "Whatever is compelling you to stand back up must a last resort you cannot afford to discard. However, while I am intrigued, that does not mean I will make it easy for you to attempt to take my life."

"So you will simply keep me from the brink of death until you bore of this futility?"

"Or until all of the world is mine. Unfortunately, I am meeting a bit more resistance than I thought. Perhaps I underestimated the tenacity you humans possess. Such blind, useless hope."

Diana tightens her grip on the Brisingr. "You may possess greater power than before, but history has progressed since the time of the Nine Olde Witches. We have their knowledge to learn from, as well as innovations of our own."

"Will that be enough?" Black tendrils rise behind Goetia. "Shall we see the fate of humanity together?"

Diana dodges the first set of shadows. But without Magna Aestus, her base speed is not enough to evade the rest. There are simply too many shadows; Goetia's reach is too great.

One wraps around Diana's ankle and pulls her up into the air. Another two wrap around both her arms, immobilizing her enough without any magical enhancements.

"Fire, shattered bones, skewering your body, struck by lightning, being crushed by gravity. Perhaps this time I should go with taking your limbs one by one. What should I rip off first? An arm? A leg? Or perhaps bifurcating your body completely? Oh, let us start with your left arm. As a reminiscence of your battle against Renatus Bradley."

Diana braces herself for the excruciating pain. But it never comes.

Instead, the black sky rips open and reveals the now red leyline. A girl falls out of the portal, wielding a golden bow while screaming her lungs out.

"AAAHHHHHH! Why am I always falling?!"

"A-Akko?!" Diana shouts.

"You!" Goetia hisses. "That is the Claiomh Solais! So you not only used it to banish me in your inner world, but you have managed to manifest it beyond your dreamscape as well?!"

But Akko isn't alone. Right after Akko comes out, Sucy, Ursula, Jasminka, and Amanda fall out of the portal as well. To Diana's surprise, the familiar giant head of Constanze's Grand Charion follows last.

"Ohhh boy. This looks bad!" Amanda shouts.

"Whoa! Evil old hag looks really evil right now." Akko notches another arrow. "But first! Shiny Arc!"

The arrow tears through the sky and breaks Goetia's hold on Diana's right arm. Goetia screams in pain, giving Diana the chance to imbue the Brisingr with some energy so she can cut through the remaining two tendrils wrapped around her limbs.

"Sybilladura Lelladybura!"

With nothing holding her up, Diana begins to fall. But in a second she's caught by Akko on the Shiny Balai and brought safely to the ground. She doesn't get a second to catch her breath before Akko envelopes her in a hug.

"You really have to stop almost dying."

Diana chuckles. "I really do my best to avoid it. It seems my luck is just as abysmal as yours."

A giant thud pulls the two away from themselves. The Grand Charion kneels in superhero landing and brings its hand down to let the other humans onto the ground.

"Yeah, and I'm starting to believe Akko infected you with her stupidity too," Amanda says. "What was that all about?! 'Take care of Akko for me!' Do you really wanna die?!"

"I trusted you all to come to my aid." But that defense sounds weak even to Diana.

Ursula steps forward. She holds out her hand and reveals a fragment of a philosopher's stone. "What is important is that we stop Goetia while everyone else is keeping her influence at bay. No matter the odds, we'll have to fight back with everything we have."

Diana takes the offered stone. "Now that the Demon Witch is no longer possessing Akko, I will be able to implement the last resort I procured from Lady Amelia. However, I need to be close enough to use the spell."

"I see your numbers have increased," Goetia comments. Her shadows rise once more, poised to strike. "No matter. A dozen or a hundred more ants makes no difference."

Diana grimaces. "Her domain extends to all of the Arcturus Forest. She has no limit to her shadows."

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry about that," Amanda says. "Cons has got that covered."

The Grand Charion rises to its feet. It bangs its fists together and holds out its arms so that it stands in a T pose facing Goetia.

"Oh? Is this one of the modern innovations you mentioned?" Goetia wonders. "How… disappointing."

Shadows from all sides rise to skewer the mecha. But the instant they lift, a bright white light shoots out from giant robot, creating a dome of light whose radius extends more than five kilometers outward.

And within this dome, not a single trace of shadows remains.

For the first time since Goetia has regained her strength, she loses her composure and roars, "What is this?!"

Amanda "Like it? Took a hell a lot of time for Constanze to come up with it. She had some help with the theories and shit from Croix, but basically all of this is her stuff. You can't cheat with your shadows anymore."

"A… dome of light that nullifies shadows," Diana remarks. "Rather than completely removing the darkness, it applies a layer that practically rewrites space. Such a wide range is only possible for something of that size."

Amanda blinks. "Geez, you really gotta know everything, don't you? I don't really get how this is all possible, but hey it works so I'm trusting Constanze on this."

"Only because I have been studying a similar method to counter the Demon Witch. Though I could never implement it myself."

"Hey, you hear that Cons?!" Amanda calls up. "You just bested Diana in something!"

The Grand Charion breaks its T pose to flash them a big thumbs up.

"Best part: that giant robot can still move around even with this thing activated. Not forever since it's using power from its philosopher's stone, but it gives us some time to fight back."

"This is what you've been hiding for the past month?!" Akko shouts. "This is so cool! Take that, stupid evil old hag!"

Despite the light and the confidence of the humans, the black mass remains unperturbed."I will admit that this countermeasure is rather clever. However, I have more to my arsenal than just my shadows."

"Yeah, it would've been too easy if this was it." Akko raises the Shiny Rod in its bow form and faces Goetia. "But you're stupid if you think we're just gonna take your evil plans and let you ruin our lives. This time, we'll make sure you stay dead."

Diana exhales. "Akko…"

"I'm tired of not being able to sleep and having to worry about people dying. Once this evil hag is gone, I can take my time yelling at you about doing things alone. But for now," Akko scoots next to Diana. "We're fighting back with all we've got!"

Even with half her face covered, Akko's determination shines clearly in her beautiful ruby eye. Akko had always possessed a level of strength that Diana couldn't understand and even envied for some time.

Standing beside Akko once is enough for her strength to infect Diana. And she knows it affects others as well.

"And you two aren't alone," Ursula says, standing behind the two girls with the others. "We'll make sure you have an opening, Diana."

Sucy reaches into her cloak. "I stocked up on potions knowing I'd get the chance to test them. I wonder how they work against primordial witches contracted to a demon?"

Amanda grins, holding up her broom. "We're not gonna let just you and Akko take the spotlight. You can count on us."

"Constanze and Lotte will be using the Grand Charion to keep the shadows back, so you won't have to worry about that," Jasminka says, fists poised to fight. "You can leave the smaller obstacles to us."

"Then once more, I place my trust in all of you."

"Feels weird huh?" Amanda teases.

"Not at all," Diana admits. "Rather, it feels… nice."

"Don't get sentimental now. We don't have time for that," Sucy says.

Despite knowing the futility of going against the Demon Witch, Diana stands beside Akko and raises the Brisingr to match Akko's golden bow. If there is one thing Diana has learned since meeting Akko, it is that it is better to try for even a miniscule chance of victory than to give up and not try at all. Because even if the probability is close to null, Akko will find a way to defy the odds and grasp what she wants.

"How futile," Goetia says. "Removing my shadows only lengthens your life by a few minutes. What can you do with such a small possibility for survival?"

"What else?!" Akko shouts. "We're gonna take back our future! We're going to get our happiness! We're going to take back everything you want to steal! Hope is weak?! You're wrong! I'll show you. No, we'll show you!"

The golden bow and the red sword. Together with their friends, the witches of Luna Nova stand against the witch who threatens their future.

"A believing heart is our magic!"

Author's Notes:

I have wanted to write this last scene for over a year. Did it turn out how I envisioned? Noooot really. But it's done XD

Fun Fact:

The cloth tied around Akko's face to seal the Mystic Eye of Prediction is based off the actual sash that Saint Martha used to tame the monster Tarasque. After sprinkling the beast with holy water with a cross in her hand, she tied her sash around its neck and led the tamed dragon throughout the village.

I'm assuming it's the holy water and the cross that actually tames the beast, but I'm imbuing the same subduing properties into her sash.