Countess Cavendish Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Croix, Amanda, Constanze and Jasminka were progressing on their way through the castle of the Countess Cavendish, to the meeting Chariot Belmont who was being controlled all these years by the church, for a huge betrayal she ended up suffering in life, by the hands of the bishops of that place the head of the slayer made her adopt a new persona, known as Ursula Callistis, but who well obviously everyone knew was Chariot with the blue hair, but who still insisted on that persona because of the mind control placed on her by some means that Meridies will soon find out when she goes to meet her.
But besides her, there's also another encounter that's been like a bubbling pressure cooker since a few weeks when Diana Cavendish met Elizabeth Lancaster in a castle in Dumfries and both had a deadly battle in which the dhampir ended up being a bit humiliated against the vampire who was just toying with her, but of course in this time the revenge would come and in the free time was where the one with platinum blond hair gave a hell of a training, besides acquiring new skills, in this whole way facing powerful creatures and even her own sister that was already strong enough to cause a lot of damage.
Diana, Akko, Lotte, Sucy, Hellene and Marianne, were going up the staircase of the tower of the external walls of the castle, having that starry and cloudy sky as a view, as they were going up they were getting rid of the barrels that were falling down the stairs, being thrown by skeletons of orangutans that were doing this to try to get in the way, Diana and Hellene soon reached the top killing those two skeletons and that was what helped to stop the barrels from falling towards the other girls, but another problem was still very pertinent, with the jellyfish heads that were flying from one side to the other, even with some yellow ones that made them take extra care since they could petrify if they touched some of them.
They reached the top, but there they still had to deal with statues spitting arrows, which were defended by Lotte and Diana's magical barriers.
Diana: Of course she wanted to leave traps in the way to stop us from trying anything.
Diana quickly uses a spell causing the statue to leave the place and start attacking, but the Cavendish without patience just with a fireball finishes with the statue preventing the passage, they passed by there and are faced with the landscape of the castle right outside, with the huge proximity to the clock tower and also with the fortress in the background, looking all intimidating, the group even stopped to admire it all.
Hellene: She must be there, looking deep inside, just waiting for us... can't wait to see her…
Diana: Soon we will meet with mother and that is exactly what makes me most nervous, to think that we will really have to get to that point, I really hope that we didn't need to do that…
Akko: We are here with you, she has more experience, surely she must have some better idea of what to do, I am sure, now come on, I still believe your mother will not want you two to fight her to the death, but if it is necessary, we will all be here to protect her from happening.
Diana: If this happens, may it be something that Hellene and I will resolve on our own, this is a family matter, I hope you understand, we don't want you to get in the middle, because in case we die, we died trying to resolve it all at once, but if we come back to you know that we have come to some conclusion, we don't want to hurt you girls and also she will accept more from us than a bunch of huntresses.
Akko: Diana... I won't...
Diana: Unfortunately it's the best thing to do, I don't want you to go with me, now come on, this is no time for us to make the decision about where we go to the castle when I go head to head with my mother.
Akko gets a little clenched fists in conflict, trembling, but Marianne tries to console her by giving her that hold, then they go on through that corridor, where bats start to appear, just like a bridge starts to crumble, forcing the girls to start running through there, since little by little that bridge was giving way, all around the castle on the external wall and with jellyfish heads flying towards them, together with bats.
Hellene: I hate those things.
Hellene and Diana got together in a bat shape and served as a distraction for the creatures that were following them, while Lotte was throwing fireballs towards the jellyfish heads, easily opening the way, arriving little by little at the end of the corridor where Elizabeth was leaning against the wall of the tower, practically laughing at the whole situation.
Elizabeth: Weel weel weel, ye'v finally survived, ah see ye'v progressed this far, bit ye wilnae git gey far efter th' bits that ur comin' fur noo, weel a'm gaun 'n' ah hawp ah see ye in yin piece or ye'r aff tae bade thare wi' they retarded folk or yer glaikit wee sister.
At that very moment Hellene throws a fireball that catches Lancaster's face and she dodges it, quickly dematerializing, the white haired vampire even notices that she has a wound on her face that quickly regenerates, the girls are just a little bit angry, mainly McLaren who is calmed down with a little bit of Leblanc's affection and way.
Diana: She's just trying to piss us off, but don't worry, when I get there, I'm going to make sure she regrets everything, this has been very personal, Elizabeth is going to really feel the monster she's created, or I'm not Diana Cavendish, the Countess Cavendish's daughter, my vampiric side still exists and she's going to feel all that power, I swear I'm not leaving there without that wretch's blood on my hand.
They enter that tower room and end up having the passage blocked with falling rocks and some creatures start to appear falling from a trapdoor, there's a lot of zombies and they have to turn around, having to hit those living dead that are falling, being one of Elizabeth's traps to try to stop the girls somehow, Easily they all manage to kill all of them, but still the passage didn't open, because at last a giant zombie fell, with the body only from the torso up, which they were having a hard time doing, because the cuts of Diana and Akko didn't solve anything, leaving only some superficial wounds, what was already showing that that zombie was already stronger than the normal.
Akko: Our swords do little against this thing!
Marianne used the whip too and even so they only made light cuts, while Hellene was punching the zombie that even with all the strength of McLaren the creature didn't feel anything, even trying to hit all of them with her hand to try to push them away, but they jumped back, dodging the hand of that zombie, Lotte tries to cast some spells and this becomes very efficient as the zombie starts to catch fire by the skin, with that the two dhampirs join too and start to shoot fire against the monster that starts to scream and crawl towards them, all this to be quickly killed, in a failed attempt of trying to block the girls passage.
Hellene: It was actually quite easy, she really thought she was going to stop us with something like that.
The passage was opened for the girls after the dead creature, they come across another corridor with a bridge, but this one was full of dragon skeletons that kept going from one side to the other blocking the way, even spitting some fireballs, Lotte makes sure to stop them all on the way and summons a small army of skeletons, which go ahead being hit by the creatures and also test if the bridge will fall or something.
Lotte: That's going to be another bridge just like the one that's falling down.
Sucy: So let's clear the way.
Sucy with the crossbow is also giving a clean in the way shooting arrows against some of these creatures, in the more causing with that they were dissolving and destroying, leaving the way more clean and safe, what they were soon starting to walk forward, grouped, they are hitting little by little the monsters that are going in direction to them, some zombies that mysteriously left the ground, for their relief really the bridge was not giving in under them.
Only that soon came a drawback with Elizabeth launching a cutting attack that caught in all the area, which they were dodging and these caught cutting everything that they saw in front, even the ground, which was with a precipice full of hands wanting to catch the girls. It was only a warning from Lancaster, since she then entered the tower hiding and Diana gave that warning with a fireball that almost caught the vampire.
Diana: That vampire is still going to swallow everything she did to me.
Little by little they manage to open more path, thanks to Lotte and her army of skeletons, the creatures were being pushed out of the tower falling into the precipices of the castle, the flying creatures were being killed by the others with a good ease, Marianne even showed that she improved her skill, easily defeating the jellyfish heads that were appearing, progressing more and more on the path, they are approaching the door, but an interruption again appears on the path with some falling stone golems to prevent the path.
Lotte: Golems? Those things are intimidating, but just hit their weak points, I can reveal that in no time, Diana and Hellene you are the only strong ones capable of penetrating their strong stone body, the others take care of the rear.
Yanson uses a spell on the golem revealing the star of David one that was on the head and another on the chest, Diana even keeps the sword on the sheath, she goes running with Hellene, the two hit a kick on the weak point part of the golem that goes a few steps back, Then they punch more than once until the golem starts to disassemble in stone pieces, thanks to the powers and quickness of the duo's blows that stone creature was easily defeated and only the door was left, where the girls were taking care of the whole rear.
Diana: Now yes, come on, this will all be over at once, this Elizabeth will swallow all the words and everything she caused us, especially the humiliation she put me through.
Hellene: You can be sure sis, we will defeat...
Diana: You guys nothing, this is a bigger issue than anything, I will defeat this curse on my own, I will do it or I am not Diana Cavendish...
Akko: A proud stupid one that's right, together we can defeat Elizabeth with ease, but you want to insist on doing it as a group, you can only be mocking our faces, we came here together and together we will defeat her, or do you think that being fainted by that wretched woman wasn't humiliating enough for us too?
Diana: Akko, it's a matter of danger, this time she won't get so much...
Akko: Well, let him come! I'm not going to stay here watching and waiting for you, I'm going to face the battle, I can even understand with your mother, but with this Elizabeth don't try to convince me otherwise.
Diana snorts, seeing that nothing would convince Akko of the opposite, knowing enough of Kagari's stubbornness she just gives in and goes along with the Japanese girl's idea, takes a deep breath and gives in to her pride, with that they all pass through the door and notice that Elizabeth was sitting having a tea sitting on a chair with her legs crossed and her eyes closed, Then she snaps her fingers causing the roots to come out of the floor and grab all of them with the exception of Diana, even Hellene, who is stronger and fights against them, getting to burst some of them, but soon she gets more and gets stuck until she can't fight anymore, Lancaster stood up and threw the cup to the side making it break, then she started clapping her hands sarcastically with Cavendish's presence.
Elizabeth: Did ye pure think ye cuid count oan yer mukkers tae hulp ye? they'll juist be stuck 'ere peepin' ye die, anyway, ye'll hae tae defeat me if yi'll waant yer mukkers 'n' yer sister alive, sae be duin fur th' challenge.
Diana: I was already going to take you on anyway, let's see if now I can hold my own against you.
The Cavendish took off her sword belt, left it resting somewhere, then she snapped her neck and fists, took a breath, looked deep into Elizabeth's eyes, who showed a smile on her face, the dhampir remained serious, she just pointed her finger down and coldly intimidated Lancaster.
Diana: Elizabeth, I will put you in hell.
The Lancaster goes up with everything towards Diana dematerializing herself, the Cavendish dodges and gives a kick that is blocked with a punch that the vampire ends up giving, the two meet in the blows and with the power of the punch the dhampir ends up falling a little on the ground.
Elizabeth: She's aye th' identical auld weakling.
The vampire comes down with her claws to hit the dhampir that dodges quickly without showing that she was dematerializing, just rolling on the ground and then giving a kick that gets in the stomach and throws Lancaster backwards, she gives a mortal and falls on her feet, She goes all out towards Diana who gets up, even dematerializing to gain momentum, but Cavendish, when Elizabeth appears, the one with platinum hair dematerializes and hits the right region of the body of the white haired girl who ends up being hit multiple times.
Diana: I said I've improved a lot in that time and I will show how!
Elizabeth: Sae ye kin dematerialize? ye mist hae bin blessed by some ability in this castle, a'm sure ye earned that by killing hannah 'n' barbara, ah hae tae say thay wur bonny pathetic.
Even with her hand on her ribs that were constantly punched, Lancaster gets confident, glows her chest and fills her hand with a dark energy, starting to get off the ground, which Cavendish was starting to do some jumping backwards dodging giving even mortals, knowing Elizabeth was going to dematerialize, she hit a kick on the vampire's chin that caught Diana's hands, also giving a kick on the platinum blonde hair's ribs, showing that the fight is well balanced, at the time that takes the kick, without wasting time the dhampir dematerializes.
Flying until surround Elizabeth that was trying to attack, but nothing happened, was kind of starting to catch fire around, Diana was surrounding her with fire then flew dematerialized with everything up and shot a powerful fireball, what Lancaster was trying to escape dematerializing, but everything around was catching fire, causing a slight explosion, and leaving the vampire half injured, already Diana on the other hand landed and was all focused.
Akko: Go Diana! You can do it my love! Beat that damn thing!
With the explosion the smoke dissipated immediately and Elizabeth made a sword levitate towards her, already going to Diana, who was dodging the Lancaster's attacks, which were catching her by grazing her, making the Cavendish get a little desperate, she was trying her best to dodge, but the speed only increased. That is until the dhampir catches her sword, causing the two blades to meet raising sparks everywhere and then the two move away facing each other holding their blades.
Elizabeth: Noo let's settle this in a manner mair oan oor level! ye cuid hae bund me wi a strae ye'v pure improved diana cavendish, bit a wullnae let masell be gubbed by a vampire as pathetic as yer mither.
Diana: What's up? Did you really say that about my mother? About your teacher?
Elizabeth: Ah'ament sent by a'body, a'm ainlie 'ere fur ah wis cried, ah juist wanted tae finish ye aff, that wis mah mission, a'm ainlie 'ere fur th' power 'n' noo ah hae th' desire tae see ye deid 'n' hae yer heid as a trophy!
Diana is even shocked, which Elizabeth takes advantage of the gap to go up giving a stab, but the Cavendish quickly responds defending with a movement with the sword down, making it have a very fast contact that as usual the friction of the two blades hitting raise sparks and the twist also only continued to the side of Cavendish that was keeping calm, Being more meticulous, so much that she raises one of her hands on the spot throwing a fireball that makes Elizabeth dematerialize behind, with that Diana takes the opportunity to chase her dematerializing herself, the two meet in the air and hit the swords again.
Lancaster tries the same as Cavendish, raising one of her hands to hit a fireball, but the one with platinum blonde hair raises the blade and ends up being hit by the white haired girl's sword, that thought she had hit a fatal cut, so much that she keeps pushing harder but everything was passing through Diana's arm space, so much that when she fell, Elizabeth noticed that she felt something strange on her belly, she tried to move and there was something holding her.
Elizabeth: What?
Diana dematerializes getting out from underneath Elizabeth that was with a sword through her belly, the dhampir Claimore that was burning parts of Lancaster's body that was dematerializing dodging and standing up she was feeling the damage she did with the hole that opened, then Cavendish takes the sword to her own hand on the way almost hits the white haired one that defends herself and is spitting blood full of pain.
Diana: Now you will feel what the power of a real Cavendish is, you will swallow all the words you said about me and my family.
Elizabeth healing herself: Am ah wrong? yer maw is a vampire slacker, she is blessed wi' dracula's curse, she cuid be taking ower th' world richt noo, she haes th' intelligence tae dae a' this, bit she is a pious body wha git crabbit fur she lost a fud, instead o' wanting tae end th' cancer o' th' world that is people she tried tae end th' ither cancer that is th' kirk, noo she is thare bein' hunted 'n' is aff tae be murdurred by her ain daughter, bit whit an irony o' fate 'twas tae bring...
Diana goes up on the spot to make Elizabeth shut up, the two swords collide, making the Lancaster even feel a little more of the impact, since the Cavendish was with a little more strength and she was demonstrating this using a tetra spirit that was hitting the vampire, leaving her defenseless, She tried to dodge it, dematerializing, releasing the sword, but Diana still followed her, using fireballs, which the white haired girl dodged, still in dematerialized form, going to a wall where Cavendish managed to hit a blow that caught Elizabeth's hand.
Diana turns into a bat and starts to shoot several fireballs towards Elizabeth, who is trying to get out of there, only that her hand was getting more irritated, she propels herself down and cuts her hand, having already been hit by the fireballs that left her even more hurt, only that the attacks didn't end there.
Akko: Go Diana!
The Cavendish took advantage that Elizabeth dematerialized to the ground and wanted to stab her from top to bottom, almost not catching the vampire that again uses the power to dodge, but Diana doesn't give up for nothing and goes back to her, making the swords meet, the two stare at each other and it was possible to notice that the white haired one was getting a little more desperate.
It was the gap that the dhampir wanted, she gave a headbutt to Lancaster that was stunned and then she gave a stab in the chest, but this one almost didn't get the heart because Elizabeth held the blade with her hand having the risk of cutting the fingers and was even trying to give a stab to Diana that just dodged, dematerializing herself, the Cavendish just take the chance to cast some spells to push the blade inside and the white haired dhampir dematerializes, getting weaker, she stops behind Diana.
Elizabeth: Ah wull mak' ye swallow everything ye...
At the same time Diana hits an elbow and then uses two fingers to hit the vampire's eyes, she starts giving a series of blows, with punches and kicks leaving the Lancaster more dizzy, to the point that she releases the sword, she intensifies the blows even more appealing to scratches and ends with a kick that launches her towards a pillar where the white haired woman dematerializes and stays around it all, hidden, Elizabeth already shows some signs that she may end up losing and starts to think of a plan.
[I can't let myself be beaten by this bitch, not to mention that I might die, but I'll be back, I'll still get revenge on you Diana Cavendish, I know you'll get to your mother one day or another, I know you can turn into a human after defeating your mother, then I'll see if I can count on your powers, I think this will work.]
Elizabeth uses a spell, she starts trying to use the shadows to hide herself, creating a copy of her as a last resource, she follows the shadows carefully so as not to be noticed, the copy goes up Diana, Cavendish gets distracted by her, Hellene tries to force her way out, dematerializing herself, but ends up being barred by Diana, while the real Elizabeth disappears through the window with a smile on her face, noticing that McLaren had noticed her and at that Diana just stares at the vampire with concentration throwing a fireball that makes her be thrown backwards and hit the wall.
Diana: Looks like you're getting weak Elizabeth, now you must be wondering what it's like to get to the end and Hellene don't get in the way! I've almost beaten her already!
Cavendish goes up to Elizabeth who defends herself with the sword but ends up weakening, McLaren keeps her hand on her face trying to convince her sister, the others too, knowing that she only starts trying to free the other girls while the older one is distracted by the fake Elizabeth, who was losing to the point of losing the blade and Diana points the blade to her showing surrender.
Diana: I told you Elizabeth, now you get that totally neutral expression, you look like you've already settled for your fate, now die!
With all the motivation in the world, Dampira shoves her sword into the chest of the false vampire, which ends up causing a spirit to come back down to earth and this ended up causing Cavendish to have a shocked and angry expression at the same time, she was fooled the whole time by Lancaster, it was all a fake copy, while the real one had already distanced herself from the castle and went flying somewhere far away.
Diana: What, it's all a fake copy? All this time I defeated a fake Elizabeth? You'll pay Elizabeth, there's no point in hiding you coward!
Hellene shouting: Diana the real Elizabeth has escaped!
Cavendish freezes on the spot, being somewhat in shock at that revelation thrown at her, Diana couldn't believe that all this time she had been duped, even thinking back to the moment she interrupted Hellene from going for the real one who ran away, which already made her put her sword away and punch the wall in anger.
Hellene: I tried to go after the real one, but you stopped me, you were moved by your pride and thought you were facing the real one, she fooled you all this time, she ran away through the shadows of the pilaster and flew out of the window.
Diana: Damn! That wretch flew out and ran away from the battle, I was going to win this time, now I'll have to keep my pride tarnished and because of it now I've given her the opportunity to run away, what the hell!
Hellene: Don't be so angry sis, she ran away and that indicates that she is afraid of us, that we are powerful, now we will continue here, we will soon find mother Bernadette and from the looks of it she really doesn't like her, it seems that our mother was never that bad.
The two dhampirs are soon freeing the girls from the branches and roots, little by little helping them, getting them out of there, and as soon as she freed Akko, Cavendish got that hug from Kagari, who even seeing Lancaster running away, she felt proud of her girlfriend, the same thing Leblanc did with McLaren and with that they all reunite, taking the moment to stay in that comfortable room where Elizabeth was so that they could all heal and have a nice rest.
Akko: That Elizabeth is a real shit, she knows we can beat her, but she only runs away from us, but just wait, one day she will end up having no way to run away, we will beat her one day and we will show her that we are better.
Diana: Or we don't even try, the chances of me leaving here as a human are high, so we might end up dying, without my powers of...
Akko: Without your powers you are still you, you don't need several powers to prove that you are strong or not, look at Marianne, she has no powers at all, she never trained properly, she was learning everything by force, she was facing dangers that trained hunters would die, she was always knowing the time to attack and she was smart, maybe a little too lucky too, but even so she got this far without needing powers, she did it all by deserving it, by showing herself to be skilled, you don't need powers Diana.
Diana: I know you're saying this to cheer me up, but I'd rather not risk it, I'd rather be safe about this, now it's only a matter of time before we get to the truth, we're still going through the clock tower and then the castle fortress, I'm just wondering what's going to happen and we're really quite powerful, I couldn't do what I did before with Elizabeth, I could read her movements and predict everything, besides having this advantage of dematerialization, everything is really much easier with powers like that.
The girls are taking a rest, even trying to take some tea, but soon Akko spits it all out when she notices that it wasn't tea, but blood, which only Hellene and Diana end up taking, making everyone laugh, not even Marianne fell for the blood tea, they also took wells to recover their vitality, besides renewing their weapons as well.
In the castle fortress, right on top of it, there was Bernadette who saw everything and she was already a bit annoyed, until the castle imp appeared to report to her what happened, the creature bows to the majesty as it always does, then starts telling her the news.
Imp: my mistress, Elizabeth was defeated and fled the castle, she betrayed us mistress, should I send someone to hunt her down?
Bernadette: Just don't allow her to come back here ever again, hunting will be a loss of troops, she is one of the strongest in our castle, your mission now is to watch the clock tower, the girls will soon be here and it's a matter of time before they reach me, don't fail in your function fiend, I count on you.
Imp: You can count on me mistress, I will do my best.
The imp was flying out to the clock tower, where he will be watching the girls besides being the one who will be waiting in a room to fight her together with other trolls that are with him, all together to fight the girls. The older Cavendish gets angry, starting to hit the table, just thinking about what had just happened with Elizabeth's betrayal that was kind of expected, but not at that moment.
[Bernadette's Thought: Now everything has gotten more complicated, I will hope Elizabeth doesn't think of allying herself with her, if not Diana could be in serious trouble after I leave this one, even if I have the ideal weapons for it, I don't want to risk it, my girl could end up being killed by this vampire and wow, she has really improved a lot, she is such a powerful vampire, I even have the confidence that I can be defeated by someone finally].
And with this Elizabeth ends up running away, almost being defeated by Diana who showed how much she has improved during all these days she spent in castles and hunting creatures, besides the powers she acquired, it will be just a matter of time until the girls soon reach the castle fortress and go to meet Bernadette, having only one more place before arriving there, the dreaded clock tower, which is full of dangers.
See you, coward witches...