Chapter 4: The Witch, the Dragon, and the Vampire

Akko returned to her dorm room and sat on her bed, waiting for her impending doom. Both Lotte and Sucy asked her questions like where she was and what she was doing, but she did not answer them as she sat on the bed and hugged the Shiny Rod like a teddy bear. And finally, the moment Akko dreaded came as someone knocked on the door very roughly. The scared girl got up and opened the door to see Professor Finnelan, who looked angrier than she usually did.

Before Akko could even say anything, she was grabbed forcefully by Finnelan and taken out of her room. The other members of the Red Team looked in confusion and shock as their third teammate was dragged away like a criminal.

Akko was taken to Headmistress Holbrooke's office once again with a very scary-looking Professor Finnelan on the left and a worried Professor Ursula on the right. The brunette had her head down in shame as Finnelan ranted about her to the old headmistress.

"This cannot stand Headmistress!" Professor Finnelan. "Maybe all the other things she has done were nothing but her lack of common sense—but this was fully intended!"

"Akko would never harm someone on purpose!" Professor Ursula defended her. "She has no reason to!"

"I bet she did it out of spite! To get back at Miss Lucifer after she beat her in that duel during Miss Julian's class. I tell you Headmistress, a child like her who has no control does not deserve to be in this academy!"

"How dare—!"

"SILENCE! BOTH OF YOU!"

Finnelan and Ursula closed their mouths shut by Headmistress Holbrooke's orders, but there was so much more they wanted to let out. Holbrooke sighed and looked at Akko with a tiring expression.

"Miss Kagari, I want you to tell me what happened in the library between you and Miss Lucifer."

Akko cleared her throat and spoke with obvious nervousness in her voice.

"W-well Elizabeth came up to me and was apologizing for what happened at the duel. I accepted her apology and then she saw that I was holding the Shiny Rod. I showed it to her because she seemed interested. And then, the Shiny Rod just…shocked her...I-I don't know why…"

"It just shocked her?"

Professor Finnelan repeated as she scoffed in disbelief, even Professor Ursula looked questionably at Akko.

"Headmistress, she is just telling stories! I believe we should—"

"I didn't mean to hurt Elizabeth! I don't know what happened but the rod attacked her for some reason!" Akko shouted.

The three teachers looked at each other and then looked back at the old witch who was holding her magic staff very tightly.

Holbrooke shook her head and said, "Whether it was an accident or not, you still must be punished, Miss Kagari. Tomorrow after all your classes are done you will clean the troll baths alone, without any magic, and I better not hear you causing any more trouble. Now Professor Ursula please take her away."

Akko hated the idea of cleaning the troll baths, but she would rather do that a thousand times than getting expelled. She bowed her head and turned her back to leave with Professor Ursula right behind her. However, the minute they left the room, Ursula quickly grabbed Akko's arm very forcefully.

"Ow—! Professor Ursula, where are you taking me!?"

The young professor dragged Akko across the hall, passing many students who were looking at them and whispering. Akko even saw Diana along with Hannah and Barbara, looking at the brunette disapprovingly. Ursula took Akko to an empty classroom and closed the door behind her so no one could see them. She looked back at Akko with such an intense gaze that Akko jumped in surprise, she never saw Professor Ursula make such a face.

"Akko," her voice was calm but there was definitely frustration behind it, "I want you to tell me what happened to you in the library."

"I-I did! I told you the whole truth! Elizabeth came up to me and—"

"That can't be all there is!"

Professor Ursula raised her voice so high that it silenced Akko. The brunette quickly closed her mouth and cowered under the professor.

"The Shiny Rod is very powerful, and it also has a defense system."

"Defense system?"

"Yes, the Shiny Rod has the power to protect itself and the wielder whenever they are in danger. The only reason that the rod would attack someone like that, is only if someone tried to take it from you or you felt threatened."

Akko shook her head.

"No, I didn't feel threatened and Elizabeth didn't even touch the rod!"

Professor Ursula pinched the bridges of her nose in frustration.

"You are not helping me here Akko."

"What do you want me to do!? I'm telling you the truth!"

Silence took over the classroom for a bit and then finally Professor Ursula broke it.

"Either you are lying to me or the rod acted on its own. It doesn't matter, word about what you did has already spread."

Akko's mouth hung open in shock.

"Really!? How!?"

"Diana told Hannah and Barbara and you know those two are the biggest gossipers in school, probably almost everyone knows! No one will be comfortable with you having the Shiny Rod so my only choice... is to confiscate it."

The young witch looked up at her favorite professor with her scarlet eyes filled with horror.

"W-what!? You have to t-take it?"

"For now, Akko! Until everything calms down and when the other professors trust you with it again. So please hand it over to me. I will put it in a safe pla—"

While Ursula was talking to her she was slowly making her way towards; however, Akko took a few steps back as she tried to approach her. Ursula was taken aback by that, but she quickly shrugged off her surprise and said, "Akko, don't make this difficult. Please just hand over the rod. I'm doing this for you."

"N-no," Akko was able to get those words out of her mouth, "I won't take the rod out into the halls or the library anymore, I'll just keep it in my room I promise, please just—"

"No, that will not do!" Professor Ursula's voice rose even higher, "You have no control over the rod as of now, you don't know if it can accidentally hurt anyone else, give it to me!"

"No, please let me keep it!"

"Akko, give. It. To. Me!"

Professor Ursula grabbed the rod and tried to yank it out of Akko's hands, but the girl's grip was strong. Now the two were wrestling for the wand as they were yelling and screaming at each other to stop.

"Akko, I'm not playing games! Let go!"

"No! I won't! This is Shiny Chariot's magic staff, it came to me so I have to take care of it!"

"AKKO STOP! NOW I'M GETTING REALLY UPSET! GIVE ME THE ROD OR YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!"

"NO!"

Then the worst thing that could ever happen, happened. The green gems on the rod started to glow brightly with a beautiful emerald green color, but a deadly force was hiding within it. Ursula shut her eyes so that she wouldn't go blind by the light, but once she did she felt that her hands were no longer on the Shiny Rod. Not only that, but it also felt like she was levitating in the group. The blue-haired professor opened her eyes to see Akko and the Shiny Rod inside a green bubble, and Ursula was on top of it. Then before Ursula could even process the scene before her, the bubble popped and a mighty gust of wind blew Ursula away from Akko. She flew up in the air and crashed down the teacher's desk, breaking it in half.

"AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!"

Professor Ursula's shout of pain could almost break the glass of the windows in the classroom. The woman tried to get up, but she fell down on her stomach. Akko glanced over at her and saw the terrible sight of a piece of the wooden desk, lodged in her back and the blood dripping from it. Ursula cursed under her breath from the pain and she continuously tried to stand, but her strength failed her, and she continued to fall as she screamed and cried.

Tears started to fill Akko's eyes as she looked at the now hurt Ursula, the guilt of harming Elizabeth, and now her beloved mentor was so painful that her heart could give out. She wanted to approach her, but her fears kept her back. In the end, Akko turned around and ran away with the Shiny Rod.

"Akko? Akko, wait! Don't run from me! AKKO!"

Those were the last words Akko heard from Professor Ursula that night before she went to bed crying.


The next day came by so quickly that Akko could not believe she was already sitting in the cafeteria and having lunch. Even though she was glad to fill her stomach from an exhausting day, all she had to eat was mashed potatoes, butter potatoes, french fries, and deep-fried potatoes-

"Ok, what is with this school and potatoes!" Akko yelled aloud but no one could understand her because of the french fries she was shoving in her mouth.

Lotte sighed, "Well first off chew your food Akko and second, you should apologize to Elizabeth and Professor Ursula."

"That's easier said than done," Akko replied once she finally swallowed her food, "I tried looking to talk to Professor Ursula earlier today during breakfast time but I couldn't find her, and I tried to go into the infirmary to see Elizabeth but they kicked me out because they don't trust me!"

"Well, you are the one who put her in the infirmary, to begin with. I would totally understand why the nurses wouldn't let you see her," said Sucy who was playing around with the potato soup.

"Well maybe Elizabeth is a no go but Professor Ursula is still available! It's lunchtime now so go find her before we head to our last class today," said Lotte as she was cutting her potatoes in half.

Akko gave her two teammates a depressing sigh and then sipped a bit of her juice. But then, once she gulped her sip down, her head grew big like a balloon all of a sudden and then shrank back. The brunette's head was back to normal, but now her nose was so long and pointy that it might have stabbed someone in the eye if they faced her.

The long-nosed witch turned to her pale creepy friend who was giggling in the corner.

"Sucy...what did I tell you about putting potions in my food?!"

Sucy continued to giggle.

"Oh calm down Pinocchio, your nose should be back to normal in an hour...probably."

"That nose looks good on you dunce~!"

The Red Team turned around to see the Blue Team coming down the stairs, and it was only Diana, Hannah, and Barbara, Elizabeth was not with them. The three girls walked up to their table, staring down at them as if they were insects.

"I'm honestly surprised the Headmistress has not expelled you for what you did," said Diana with her hands on her hips. "A child like you who harms others just because they have shown to have better skills than you is pathetic."

Akko stood upright to Diana's face, nearly poking her in the eye with her nose.

"I didn't mean to hurt Elizabeth! I never wanted to hurt anyone so why don't you back off!"

"Likely story! You "accidentally" nearly burned all the flesh off of her hands huh?"

Barbara said loudly that the students around them were now looking at them.

Hannah then stepped in.

"It honestly wouldn't really surprise me if it was by accident though, she is an idiot who literally blows up everything around her!"

The two girls started laughing and some of the other students in the cafeteria joined in. Akko's face and nose turned red and she wanted to hide somewhere and disappear.

"Why don't you just leave me alone before I wipe that stuck-up look off your face!"

Akko snarled as she got up close to Diana.

"How? With your "stuck up" nose?"

The beautiful blonde then grabbed Akko's pointy nose and flicked it so hard that Akko stumbled backward.

"Take care of yourself and have a nice day," Diana says in a sarcastic voice as she does a fancy ballroom bow. She then walked away like a princess with Hannah and Barbara following close behind her.

"I can never catch a break," Akko groaned to herself.

"It's ok Akko, everything will—oh look! There's Professor Ursula!"

Lotte pointed upstairs to see the blue-haired professor carrying a few stakes of books. Before anyone could see, Akko left her seat and ran up to Professor Ursula with an excited smile.

"Professor Ursula! How are you do–..."

But the minute Akko and Ursula locked eyes, the woman looked away quickly and turned around, walking away from the girl.

"...ing…" was all Akko could get out, but Ursula didn't hear her because she was already gone.

Lotte and Sucy came up quickly right behind her, and both of them tried to comfort her.

"It's okay, Akko! Everything will be back to normal soon," reassured Lotte.

"Yeah, I mean it's Ursula, she's gonna forgive you sooner or later," said Sucy.

Akko's head was so low that it could almost touch the floor.

"Thanks, guys…"


The final class of the day finally started and just like the Dark Arts Class, it was a new class for these students. All the teams, who were led by Professor Ursula went to the New Moon Tower. They went inside and stopped in the middle of the first floor.

"This class is known as the Treasure Hunting Class. We will go below the New Moon Tower to the deep labyrinth."

"Wait, there's a labyrinth underneath the tower?" Akko whispered to Lotte (her nose was back to normal now).

Lotte whispered back, "Yeah, it's been here for ages. It's full of unique relics and monsters."

"Legends say that the labyrinth was once a magical kingdom that existed under the earth, there are many skeletons of knights, never before seen banners, and ruins of massive building structures."

The Red Team turned around to see someone they did not expect to see in full health—Elizabeth Lucifer. She looked at the three girls with a wide smile, but she was mostly looking at Akko.

"Elizabeth!?" Akko wanted to yell that, but she kept her voice down to not disturb Professor Ursula's introduction to the class. "I thought you were still healing in the infirmary."

"I'm fine now," Elizabeth replied, "The healing medicines of Luna Nova are not that strong but they do the trick. Also, Diana healed the serious parts of the wound herself."

Akko raised an eyebrow.

"Diana healed you?"

"She's a Cavendish, after all, that family is extremely famous for their healing spells," explained Sucy.

"That is not the only thing we are famous for, but that is one of the best."

Coming from behind Elizabeth was Diana herself and her lackeys, Hannah and Barbara.

Elizabeth turned to Diana and shook her hand.

"I didn't get to thank you for healing me, I appreciate it, Diana!"

Diana smiled warmly in response.

"There is no need for a thank you, it is only natural to help out a teammate."

Even though she seemed okay, Akko was feeling extremely nervous when she saw Elizabeth. She did not know why, but the way Elizabeth was acting, from how upset she seemed back at the library when she was hurt and the now giddy smile and merry laughter freaked Akko out. Nevertheless, she wanted to make amends and slowly walked up to Elizabeth who was facing her now. It was hard for Akko to speak for a second because of the ice-cold stare from Diana in the background.

"E-Elizabeth?"

"Hm?"

Elizabeth tilted her head as Akko addressed her.

"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday, I didn't mean to—"

"Let's go," Elizabeth interrupted Akko out of nowhere.

"W-what?"

"Let's go! Professor Ursula is leading the students to the labyrinth!"

Elizabeth pointed to the group of students going down a hole.

"Oh crap!"

Akko and her friends quickly followed behind and went down the hole which was followed by multiple flights of stairs. After the stairs was a long dark hallway, and then finally there was a giant metal door that was locked from head to toe. Standing in the front of the door was a whiteboard that Ursula approached.

"Today, we will have you put your skills to the test," Ursula took out her wand and tapped on the whiteboard with it. As she did, the board started to show 2-bit animations of the things she was explaining.

"Your assignment will be to go down to the labyrinth, find a treasure, and retrieve it. The rarer your item, the higher you will score. Furthermore, monsters are roaming about the labyrinth, so do watch your step. The further down you go, the rarer treasures, but the stronger the monsters as well."

Sucy rolled her eyes, "It's like I'm playing a crappy dungeon crawler RPG."

Lotte looked at the whiteboard worriedly, "But with monsters? I wonder if we'll be-"

The orange-haired witch turned to her brunette friend who was literally on fire with excitement and anticipation.

"A-Akko?"

"Finally! It's my chance to shine!"

"The labyrinth becomes difficult to navigate, you may not be able to return on time. You have three hours. Use everything you've learned so far and surprise me. Begin."

Professor Ursula then waved her wand and the locks and bolts on the metal door were removed instantly. The door slowly opened, making the earth tremble as it did.

"Ok, so who will go fi—"

Before anyone noticed, Akko ran straight through the doorway with a warcry.

"I WILL SLAY ALL THE MONSTERS!"

"Akko!" Lotte yelled as she and Sucy ran after their crazy partner, leaving everyone else behind.

The Red Team were journeying through the labyrinth for what seemed like an hour, right now they were walking down a spiral staircase with the magical light of their wands being candles to brighten up the way (Lotte had her metal skeleton lantern). Akko was in front, jumping and running with so much energy and excitement.


"Hurry up, guys!"

"Slow down!" Lotte called out from behind.

Akko stopped and turned to her friends, "If we don't hurry, Diana will get the better of us!"

"Is this really all just a competition between you and her?"

"She's just using Diana as an excuse," interjected Sucy. "She just wants to get a lot of treasure to impress Professor Ursula."

Akko's face turned red for a split second, but luckily the others did not see because it was still too dark.

"Whatever, let's just go!"

"But it's dark and dangerous. Hold on."

Lotte took out her wand and tapped on her metal lantern, "Come out, come out."

Jumping out of the lantern was a green little fairy who lit up the area with its bright green flame-like body.

"Now we can see where we're going," said Lotte.

"You just took all the fun out of it," whined Akko.

But before Akko could whine anymore, she heard the strange noise of a squeaking rubber duck. She turned around to see a small three-legged transparent ball-shaped monster with glowing yellow eyes crawling on the stone walls.

The brunette witch readied her wand, "There you are, monster! Have a taste of my magic!"

Akko then cast a spell at the creature and blew it off the wall, it then started tumbling down the stairs.

"Think you can get away?! Think again!"

Like a mad girl, Akko started going after the cute monster with the full intent to kill it.

Lotte was now starting to get annoyed as she ran after her crazy partner with Sucy following slowly behind.

"Akko! Our assignment isn't to grind mobs!"


Somewhere else in the labyrinth but not too far was the Blue Team. At that moment, the Blue Team was facing off against a four-legged insectoid creature—well, only Diana and Elizabeth were fighting it while Barbara and Hannah were hiding in the back. The battle was quickly finished by Diana who destroyed the monster with a powerful magical blast.

"That wasn't even worth my time," Diana said with a huff as she put her wand away.

"That was a great magical blast there, Diana!" Elizabeth complimented.

Hannah and Barbara slowly approached their teammates, shaking in fear of any other monster popping out of nowhere.

"Hey Diana, Elizabeth, why don't we like, head back soon?" Hannah said while shaking.

"Ye-yeah!" replied Barbara. "We've already got like, a bunch of rare treasures! Look! A mithril mail, a galvorn knife, and even like, a silmaril ring!"

Diana sighed and shook her head.

"Those are all common drops. No one would dare refer to those as rare treasures."

"We could find some treasures that are more worthwhile if we go down a level. The monsters might get even stronger though," suggested Elizabeth.

Hannah and Barbara were now holding on to each other like a married couple.

"But this place is, like, totally dangerous. We don't think we can handle it anymore."

"Witches are supposed to be feared. How could you be afraid of this place?" Diana stated as she turned to her cowardly teammates with her hands on her hips and she continued to scold them.

"Besides, my magic is invincible. You have nothing to fear."

Hannah and Barbara's faces were down in shame, but when they looked up again their shame quickly turned into fear.

"Di-Di-Di-Diana!"

"What's wrong?"

"A-a-a cow."

"A cow?"

Diana finally turned around and saw before her a mighty minotaur staring down at her and her team. Hannah and Barbara looked as if they were going to cry, Diana took out her wand to fight, and Elizabeth just looked at the minotaur and smiled.

"Oh~! A minotaur, haven't seen those in a while."


Back to the Red Team, Akko was still chasing the small creature while blasting magic at it. Once they were off the stairs, Akko lost the creature in the darkness.

"Which way did you go?"

Finally coming behind her were Lotte and Sucy. Lotte held onto her knees, breathing heavily from all the running, "Would you calm down?"

Out of nowhere, the screams of scared little girls came from the right corridor.

"Over there!" Akko yelled aloud as she followed the screams.

"Akko! You're getting way too worked up over this!" Lotte said as she followed right after her.

"Wait right there! Just you wait until I get my hands on you!"

The young witch who was ready for battle then entered a room full of knight skeletons piled on the floor, and before her was a mighty minotaur who had his back to her because he was attacking the Blue Team. He wasn't able to get to them, however, thanks to Diana putting up a purple magical dome.

"Akko!" Diana yelled out to her as she was keeping the dome up.

The minotaur turned around its bloodthirsty eyes now on Akko.

"A minotaur?"

All the confidence Akko had before drained out of her as the cow beast was charging at her. The witch screamed while she waved her wand frantically, a small magic blast shot out of the wand and hit the minotaur's left eye. The monster started staggering back while covering its now bleeding eye.

"Now's my chance!"

Diana took the dome down and held her wand high in the air as she spoke her incantation with a mighty voice.

"Come, my indestructible guardians! In the name of Cavendish! Brandish your swords and strike down those of evil hearts! Fineltina la Serana!"

At that moment, all the swords that were attached to the bones of the dead knights were filled with a holy light and rose to the sky surrounding Diana. They then charged at the minotaur like missiles and struck his back. But such an amazing spell didn't do anything as the minotaur turned right back to Diana and roared out in a rage.

"A minotaur's skin is too thick!" yelled Elizabeth who slid up right next to Diana. "We need something more destructive than swords!"

On the other side of the fight was Akko, who was sitting on the cold stone ground with a dumb-looking fear-stricken look. Coming up behind her was her trusted friend Lotte.

"Are you okay, Akko?"

Akko snapped herself back to reality and said, "That thing is crazy!"

"That's my cue."

Passing the two girls was none other than Sucy who was approaching the beast with absolutely no sign of fear.

"Sucy, do you have a plan?" Lotte asked, but the pale witch ignored her as she approached the monster.

Sucy cleared her throat and spoke aloud, "Excuse me, Mr. Cow."

The minotaur turned around to stare at the creepy little witch.

"Open wide."

The beast roared right in her face, but little did he know that was a fatal mistake. With great speed, Sucy took out a leather bottle and poured all of its disgusting-looking contents into the monster's mouth.

"Bon appetit."

What happened next was so horrible that Barbara threw up all of her lunch. The poor minotaur started to shake and tremble and then its body melted like ice cream. It even melted a massive hole that leads to the bottom part of the labyrinth.

Akko and Lotte slowly approached their chaotic friend who was laughing like an evil mastermind. "I guess it was a little too strong," she said as she continued chuckling.

"Gross!" was all Akko could say.

Elizabeth smiled, "That worked out nicely."

"Let's leave!" Barbara said weakly after she was finished throwing up.

However, Diana completely ignored her teammate as she looked down the hole, "Looks like we can go down from here."

"Huh!? Do you want to keep going down?! Let's stop! It's way too dangerous."

"If you're scared, you're free to hang around with those blockheads for all I care."

Akko huffed in response.

"Hold on a second Diana."

Elizabeth grabbed Diana's shoulder before she could make the descent down.

"Remember what Professor Ursula said? The monsters get stronger the further you go down, I know you're tough but you would be a fool if you were planning to head down there alone."

"Excuse me?"

Diana turned to Elizabeth with her cold blue eyes staring daggers at her, but Elizabeth did not even flinch. Akko gave respect to Elizabeth for not backing down to Diana when she was like that.

"I'm just saying, it wouldn't hurt to have a few more people with us…"

Elizabeth waved her hand towards the direction of the Red Team who were at the other side of the hole. Diana looked at them and then looked at Elizabeth with an uninterested look.

"You can't be serious..."

"Come on! Seven witches are better than four," Elizabeth stated as she giggled.

"So what, we're teaming up?" asked Sucy.

"I guess so," answered Diana, but she looked far from happy.

"Alright!" Akko replied. "But if we find a lot of treasure, we get most of it."

"What!? No way, why would we give you most of it!?" yelled Hannah.

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because we just saved your lives from being brutally killed by a minotaur," Akko fired back with a smug look on her face, Hannah huffed and turned her head.

"Yes, thank you for that," Elizabeth said aloud while the other Blue Team members said nothing but give the other team upset faces, "We would have been in serious trouble back there, now let's return the favor by helping you guys find some treasure."

Diana cleared her throat.

"Well if we're done, I'm going first. Adieu."

The blonde witch then took out a small brush that looked like the end of a broom, attached to the top of her wand which emitted a blue glow, and jumped first into the hole. She then started to slowly float down into the deep darkness of the hole.

"What was that thing!?" Akko asked dumbfounded.

"That was the floating brush, you're supposed to buy that along with your wand," answered Elizabeth. "You never bought one didn't you?"

"I never saw it on the list of things to get! Lotte, Sucy, do you guys have yours?"

"I-I left mine back in the room," Lotte giggled awkwardly while scratching the back of her head.

"Mine broke two weeks ago," Sucy replied nonchalantly.

"Geez you guys are hopeless," Hannah shook her head, "Fine, float with us."

The Red Team went over to the other three remaining members of the Blue Team as they attached their floating brushes to their wands. The girls had no choice but to hold onto each other as they descended. Lotte held onto Barbara, Sucy held onto Hannah ("You smell like a dead mouse," Hannah complained in her thoughts), and Akko held onto Elizabeth. When Akko's body touched Elizabeth's, she felt like she was hugging a huge block of ice.

"This girl is so freakin' cold!" Akko thought, "It's like she has absolutely no body heat!"

"Alright, let's follow Diana."

Akko and Elizabeth were the first to descend as the other two followed right behind. The six witches slowly floated down to the lower level of the labyrinth, and the further down they got, the more creepy and eerie it looked.

After a few minutes of floating (and uncomfortable body touching) the girls finally contacted the ground. As they removed the brushes from their wands, Diana, who was waiting for them, approached them with an impatient look.

"Took you long enough," she said while tapping her foot.

All the girls emitted purple light from their wands as they slowly started their journey in the deep labyrinth. Everyone seemed to be calm, except for Hannah and Barbara who were freaking out like little kids who were watching a horror movie.

"Do you think we were supposed to go down this far? Maybe we should go back," Hannah said in between chattering teeth.

"Be quiet you two, unless you want to attract more monsters," Sucy turned to the two of them and said that with a creepy smile. Hannah and Barbara gave a pathetic whimper as a reply.

"This is taking too long!" Akko pronounced aloud while walking up to Diana who was leading the group. "Is there treasure here or not?"

Diana sighed.

"There must be, we just haven't encountered any yet."

"Maybe we should split up," suggested Elizabeth.

"Like one of those animated cartoons? I don't think that is a smart idea," interjected Barbara.

"We can split up into two groups of two and one group of three. Barbara and Lotte, you guys go with Diana down the same path, Hannah and Sucy you go down the right path, and me and Akko will go down the left. If anything happens, just yell and return to this spot."

Diana pondered the idea for a moment and then nodded her head in agreement.

"I guess that will have to do. Come on you two!"

"O-ok…"

Lotte sheepishly followed the two Blue Team members.

"Bye, Lotte. Alright let's go scaredy pants," Sucy ordered Hannah as they went their way.

"There better be good treasure down here to make all of this worth it," Hannah grumbled to herself.

And now the only ones remaining were Akko and Elizabeth.

"Okay Akko, let's go."

"Wait, why did you pair yourself with me and not with Diana?"

"I...I actually thought this was a good chance for us to make up for what happened at the library."

"O-oh…"

Akko rubbed her arm awkwardly, remembering the guilt and fear she felt when she hurt Elizabeth.

"I'm really sorry for what happened, I promise I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't, I am good at reading people and I can tell that you are a good person," Elizabeth said that with the prettiest smile Akko had ever seen on a girl's face. Her guilt was slowly melting away like ice and her cheeks turned pink.

"Okay, let's go find some treasure to show off to Ms. Ursula!"

The two witches went down the left path that at first had nothing but rocks, but soon they were seeing some interesting things. There were structures of buildings and bones of knights all over the place, the two figured that they were at least close to something. Then, after almost an hour of nothing but walking, Akko's light hit something.

To Akko, it was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen. It was an iron cabinet with a creepy face of a skull on the top, and it was wrapped in a white tap that had strange Luna ruins on it.

"W-w-what the hell is that?!" Akko squeaked while backing up.

"It's an iron maiden," Elizabeth answered. "A legendary torture machine that sucked the blood of hundreds of witches. But it's properly useless now, there might even be some precious treasure inside. Give it a crack Akko!"

"O-okay!"

Akko pointed her wand at the iron maiden and the purple light glowed brightly from it. The light then touched the ruins on the tap and then it ripped them into pieces. Once the tap was gone, the iron maiden opened up with dust coming out of it. Then, for a split second, Akko could've sworn she saw small glowing yellow eyes, and she was right.

Slowly coming out of the iron maiden was some sort of red lizard with a big head, a white underbelly, and small wings that seemed to be developing. It made a weird screeching noise that seemed to Akko to be a roar of some sort.

"What the heck are yo—"

"Akko, get back!"

The witch immediately obeyed her partner's orders and backed up from the small creature. She had her wand out, ready for any attack.

"Don't get too close, that is a dragon— a Briton Red Dragon. They are the most dangerous types of dragons out there, even the babies are considered deadly."

"W-what do I do!?" Akko was starting to panic.

"Blast it with your magic!" Elizabeth shouted, "Kill it!"

Akko honestly felt bad killing a baby dragon, but if it was as dangerous as Elizabeth said, then she had no choice, it was only self-defense. The young witch pointed her wand at the little dragon and shouted the name of her spell of choice.

"Aru Jawana!"

A bolt of lightning hit two inches near the baby dragon, it backed away and shrieked at Akko.

"Sorry about this—Kertina Feriare!"

Akko then launched the fireball right at the dragon, expecting it to die instantly from the hot flames. But that ended up not being the case as the baby dragon opened its mouth wide and swallowed the fireball whole.

"What?"

Not only that, but she could've sworn the baby dragon just grew a little bigger.

"Akko, what are you doing!?" Akko turned back to Elizabeth who was still screaming at her, "That magic won't be enough, attack it with everything you got!"

"A-alright already! Take this!"

The brunette then did as the purple-haired witch desired and sent a mighty wave of spells to the dragon, hoping that it would end it.

While Akko was delivering all of her power onto the dragon, she yelled back at Elizabeth.

"Hey, Elizabeth! Will this be enough!?"

Akko turned her head slightly to see Elizabeth, and what she saw at first filled her with confusion, but would later fill her with dread and hatred. Elizabeth was looking at Akko with a smile that had no compassion or friendliness, all that was there was just evil...pure evil…

"Hannah and Barabara were right...you really are a dunce."

"W—...what are you talking ab-"

Out of the blue, an explosion of smoke overtook both Akko and Elizabeth and what happened next almost made Akko deaf. It was the sound of a mighty dragon roar.


"Well this journey was a complete waste of time," Diana shook her head as she and her partners returned to the meeting spot with nothing to show. Hannah and Sucy also came back at the same time, the only difference was that Hannah's hair was a mess and her skin seemed slightly green.

"What the hell happened to you Hannah!?" yelled Barbara.

"I got bored so I gave some of my potions to drink," Sucy replied. "She struggled a bit, but I still made her drink it anyway."

"Guys, am I dead? I'm dead, aren't I? I'm dead…"

Diana rolled her eyes.

"You're not dead Hannah, you were just poisoned."

"Oh hey, Charlie!" Hannah was now smiling and waving at a person behind the group. The three witches turned around to see no one.

"Who's Charlie?" asked Lotte.

"By the Nine! Charlie, are those peach cakes for me?!"

Hannah started smiling like an idiot and giggling aloud.

"The potion should wear off in about a minute or so…"

"Probably?" said Diana before Sucy.

"Prob— wait, how did you know I was going to say that?"

"That's literally what you say all the time you poison anyone."

"Is that a dragon!?"

Barbara sighed.

"Hannah relax, there is no—OH PRAY TO THE NINE OLDE WITCHES THAT IS A DRAGON!"

Barbara pointed up in the air and the others followed her finger to see the dreaded monster of hell. The dragon was far away but they could see it clearly enough thanks to the flames it spits, for the light of the flames made it brighter to see. The dragon was massive with its huge wings stretching far and wide as it was flying towards the top. It had brown skin and a crimson underbelly, its horns were so large that they could be the size of one person, and its upper snout was covered by a gray armor plate.

The crimson dragon flew up to the hole that Sucy made long ago and disappeared with one last roar and burning smoke that was left behind in its wake.

"That was a Briton Red Dragon!" Diana breathed aloud with shock upon seeing such a creature. "Where did it come from?"

"Diana!"

Coming from the left were Elizabeth and Akko, both of them looked like they just crawled out of a dusty hole.

"What happened!?" asked Diana.

Elizabeth was the only one who answered back because Akko was too busy trying to get her brain to stop bouncing.

"We encountered the Briton Red Dragon in its weaker state when we were searching for treasure Akko started blasting it with magic the minute she saw it!"

"Ugh...what?"

Akko was holding onto her head, worrying that it might fall off.

"I tried to tell her to stop but she just kept going like an idiot!"

Diana now went to Akko who was back to her senses, but the brunette immediately wished she was out cold or something because the cruel eyes of Diana were burning into her soul.

"Akko...did you attack the dragon with magic?"

Diana asked with venom in her voice, Akko was worried if she said something wrong, she might get attacked.

"N-no!...Well, yes I did attack it with magic, but only because of Eli-"

"You…IMBECILE!"

Diana's roar of anger was almost as loud as the dragons, even Hannah and Barbara were shaken to their core.

"Everyone knows that Briton Dragons absorb magic to become more powerful! Did you not learn anything from your classes!?"

"I-I—"

Diana took a deep breath and turned to her other teammates.

"Hannah, Barbara, give me your brushes."

The two did as ordered and Diana took out her wand and cast a spell on both of them. The two brushes merged and became a fancy-looking wooden broom with a blue strap tied to the front.

As Diana got on the newly formed broom she spoke to her teammates one last time.

"I will go warn Professor Ursula, you guys should fly out of here! Tia Fre–"

But Diana could not take off as Akko grabbed the brush of her broom.

"Diana, wait! Let me help you!"

The Cavendish girl did not even bother to face the other witch as she answered her.

"I think you've done enough. Tia Freyre!"

She then lifted off and flew up to the hole.

"Good job you dunce," said Barbara as she flew off with Hannah riding on the back.

Elizabeth turned to the Red Team, "Let's head back upstairs and help any way we can," she then flew off.

Sucy walked up to the mess that was Akko, "You know Akko, you've done some stupid stuff, but this is probably the most idiotic thing you have ever done."

Akko turned to her friend with anger burning in her eyes, "It wasn't my fault! Elizabeth told me to keep attacking it with magic!"

"Yeah, sure she did," Sucy replied with a sarcastic voice.

The angry girl grabbed the collar of her friend's robe, Sucy was not expecting this contact but she did a very good job hiding her surprise.

"Both of you stop it!" Lotte came in between the two, "Let's just get out of here, Akko ride with me."


Back at the entrance of the labyrinth, almost all of the teams were gathered there. They were talking to each other and showing off the cool treasures that they found on their adventures. Sadly, their happy moment was going to be interrupted by something so terrifying. At first, the girls could feel the tremors getting bigger and the roars getting louder. Then destroying the metal doors was the huge Briton Red Dragon, roaring down at the little witches.

"Oh that's not good," stated Professor Ursula who was near the door. She then quickly hit the emergency button for the door and the extra metal pillars sealed the way as well as trapping the dragon. But the dragon's strength was far superior as it used its flames to melt the pillars a little and then pushed them off with its muscular arms.

"Geez, can this get any worse?" Professor Ursula then took out her wand and summoned a purple holographic microphone.

"This is an emergency evacuation! Everybody, please get out of the building!"

Coming out from the door too was Diana with the other members of the Blue Team behind her.

"Hannah and Barbara help students evacuate! Elizabeth, come with me!"

"Right!"

Hannah and Barbara descended and began helping as many people as they could.

Diana and Elizabeth flew down to Professor Ursula who looked more annoyed than afraid.

"Is there anything you need us to do, professor!?"

"Go to the academy and get the other professors to help me with this thing! Seriously, how on earth did something like this get out of the labyrinth?"

"Well, you can thank Akko for that."

"What?"

"Sorry for the wait!"

Coming out from the smoke as well was the Red Team. The minute they descended in front of Professor Ursula, they were met with a strict look, but the look was mostly for Akko.

"Miss Kagari," Akko flinched, Ursula does not usually call her Miss Kagari unless she did something seriously wrong, "Are you responsible for this?"

Akko held her head down in shame, unable to look her favorite professor in the eye.

"Yes...I'm sorry…"

Professor Ursula sighed and pinched the corners of her nose.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"B-but I can fix this! I just need to go into the academy to get it!"

"Get what?" asked Elizabeth, "You started this situation, can you make it better?"

"I bet I can destroy it with the Shiny Rod!"

"Akko no!" Ursula's voice was more stern now.

"Just this once! If we don't do anything people might actually die!"

Professor Ursula was completely against Akko using the Shiny Rod again, but she knew it might be the only choice they had left.

"Okay fine. Go get the rod and come back quickly!"

"Yes, ma'am! Come on Lotte!"

Akko jumped on the back of Lotte's broom again and flew off to the academy, avoiding the destruction and flames of the dragon.


After a few minutes, the two witches returned to the now-on-fire New Moon Tower with the Shiny Rod in their possession. Meeting them in the air was Professor Ursula on her broom and Diana.

"Good job Akko!" said Professor Ursula.

"Where is the dragon?" asked Lotte.

"It's making its way to the top of the tower," answered Sucy, who was flying behind them.

"It's going for the Sorcerer's Stone!"

"Why?" asked Akko as she saw the dragon making its way to the top.

"The Sorcerer's Stone is the school's magic core, and that dragon is constantly trying to get more magic energy. If it eats the Sorcerer's Stone, it might be way too strong for us to deal with," explained Diana.

"Alright, let me deal with it!"

At that moment the Red Team and Professor Ursula were flying towards the dragon as Diana flew to the academy to get the professors.

The witches were able to fly past the dragon, but the winged lizard was quickly able to pick up the pace.

"This guy just won't quit!" Akko yelled.

"Let me see what I can do!" said Sucy as she flew towards the raging beast. She took out two dark bottles that had a purple skull on them and threw them right at the dragon's face. The bottles broke the moment they hit the dragon, exploding in a purple smoke that blinded the monster.

"How did you like that!?" Sucy yelled aloud in a mocking tone, but her stance of glory didn't last for long as she was met with a raging storm of fire heading for her.

"SUCY!"

Luckily she had her magical dome on at the right time, but she was covered in soot and her hair was puffed up like popcorn.

The dragon then continued its advance to the top, getting ever closer.

"Akko, use the rod now!" yelled Ursula as she had her wand at the ready.

Akko held the wand close to her and began chanting the words, "Noctu Orfei Aude Fraetor!"

At that moment, the rod was engulfed in green light and transformed into a bow. Akko then pulled the string back and a golden arrow materialized, ready to be launched.

"SHINY ARC!"

Akko released the string and sent the arrow flying towards the crimson dragon. But the dragon smiled as it saw its lunch heading for it. It opened its mouth and swallowed the magical arrow whole, and once it was in its stomach, the beast began to change.

The dragon was now even larger, with the majority of its body shifting to dark blue and the underbelly becoming bright red. Its lower jaw became bulkier with a pair of spikes protruding to the back of the head. Dark swirls also formed on the underbelly right near the limbs, and spikes also grew across its spine.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Akko screamed in horror and frustration.

The crimson dragon started picking up the pace, but then the beast was met with a green blast to the face. Coming towards it from the academy were Diana and Elizabeth who had all the professors of Luna Nova flying in the back.

The beast growled in irritation and unleashed a flurry of fire in their direction. Like flies that were difficult to swat, the witches dodged the fire and fired as much magical power as they could.

"THIS WILL NOT WORK!" Diana screamed. "THE BRITON DRAGON WILL JUST KEEP ABSORBING THE MAGIC!"

"THEN WE NEED TO HIT IT WITH A SPELL THAT CAN DRAIN IT'S MAGIC!"

Elizabeth shouted over to Diana her plan which made the prodigy raise an eyebrow in confusion. The purple-haired witch flew over and whispered into her teammate's ear. After hearing in full detail what Elizabeth meant Diana looked over at her as if she was insane.

"ARE YOU CRAZY! SUCH A SPELL IS—"

"WE CAN DO IT!" Elizabeth yelled with a smile. "I KNOW WE CAN!"

Diana wanted to argue more but ultimately gave in to Elizabeth's enthusiasm. The two young witches flew up to the raging dragon and put their wands together. Blinding powerful magic flowed into the tips of the wands as Diana and Elizabeth started chanting.

"Ein Ein Sof…"

"Ein Sof Ohr…"

Then the two witches aimed their wands at the dragon and shouted at the top of their lungs. Their voices seemed to have made the clouds part from the volume.

"LUNA LANA!"

A stream of golden magical light exploded from the two wands and ensnared the Briton Red Dragon. The beast roared out as it was consumed by the spell, its form disappearing.

As the light faded, revealing itself in front of all the witches was the same dragon that was destroying the New Moon Tower, but it was back to the form of a harmless baby.

"Professor Nelson and Professor Finnelan, now!"

Following the orders of the Headmistress, Finnelan, and Nelson conjured a spell that wrapped the baby dragon in a purple magical binding. Then the professors picked up the monster like a bag of groceries and took him back into the dungeon.

While they did that, the students all turned to Diana and Elizabeth who had flown back down to the ground and hugged each other.

"I…I can't believe we actually did it…"

Diana said with a wide spell.

"That spell is hard to perform and is so ancient…how did you—"

"It wasn't just me, it was you as well Diana," Elizabeth said with a wink. "Your magical potential is something out of this world…"

The students around then began to cheer and applaud the two witches who saved the day.


Akko and the others were back on the ground with all the other students. Luckily no one died, but a serious amount of girls had to go to the infirmary after the attack was over. The overbearing guilt was so heavy that Akko felt like she was carrying weights.

Coming out of the dungeons were Professor Finnelan and Nelson, who both looked exhausted.

"The dragon?" asked Professor Ursula who walked up to them.

"Sealed it in the deepest parts. It's never getting out—especially when Finnelan placed such an intense binding spell."

Professor Nelson folded her arms.

"If you ask me, that was a little dramatic. The dragon was weak and couldn't hurt anybody!"

Finnelan retorted, "If that dragon even gets a lick of magic it would be a problem! And we just sent it out into the wilderness so this was the only solution!"

Professor Finnelan's head had started to fume as she stomped over the students. She sucked in as much air and screamed as loud as she possibly could so that everyone could hear her.

"Who is responsible for giving that dragon magical energy to start with?!"

Everyone was silent because just as the angry professor they did not know. But Ursula remained silent and looked away in shame. This did not go unnoticed by Finnelan who quickly discovered the answer by simply seeing the blue-haired professor's expression.

"Oh no wait let me guess, and if I get this right then everyone on the staff should pay me!... Atsuko Kagari?"

Professor Ursula held her head down lower.

"Wow, I was right? I guess I'm getting paid aren't I!?"

The nearly insane-looking Professor Finnelan stomped over the dirty and frightened Akko who was hiding behind Lotte.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I-I-...it wasn't my fault! I-I—"

"Excuses, excuses, excuses, excuses, excuses!" Finnelan screamed. "You can't perform a spell right or get good grades on your assignments, but you definitely can make good excuses on the fly can you?"

Akko's cheeks were burning red as she stared at the ground. And to make the day worse, Headmistress Holbrooke approached the young witch with a very disappointed look.

"Miss Kagari, your actions today were beyond foolish, if it wasn't for everyone working together, we could have lost a life here."

The pain in Akko's heart was getting worse as the headmistress's words were beating her down more and more.

"As punishment, you will fix the tower with your magic...starting now."

Akko looked up with widened eyes.

"S-starting now?"

"Did she stutter Miss Kagari?" Finnelan said, "Starting now! You know the spell don't you?"

The brunette turned around to the destroyed tower and took her wand to cast the levitation spell. She slowly used the spell to lift a big piece of the tower and tried to put it back in its rightful place. It was like a puzzle game, but the worst kind.

"Wrong spot," Diana called out, and then all the students laughed at the pathetic-looking Akko who was simply trying her best.

"Shut up…" Akko tried to say, but her voice died off as she tried to lift the building piece with her spell. Even though she was not using her hands, she could feel how heavy it was.

Not being able to stand her friend going through such pain and humiliation, Lotte took out her wand and was going towards Akko. However, the arm of Professor Ursula stopped her from going any further.

"No," she simply said.

"B-but why!?" shouted Lotte. "Look at her, she's struggling!"

"This is her punishment, Miss Jansson," Professor Finnelan said as she looked at Akko with such a giddy smile. "Do not interfere."

Akko could not even hear what was going on behind her, her ears were ringing like bells and her body was getting weaker. Not only that, but blood started to flow from her nose as she was lifting her sixth piece.

"I can't...I...help—"

And then...darkness. All that was left for Akko was darkness…


Akko gasped as if she was taking air after nearly drowning. When she opened her eyes fully, the young witch saw that she was not in her dorm room, but in the infirmary. Sitting beside her was Professor Lukić, who was reading a newspaper.

"You're finally awake Miss Kagari…"

The creepy old witch said, but she did not even bother to look at her.

The weak and confused Akko sat up.

"What...what happened to me…?"

"You fainted."

"I...I fainted?"

"Yes, and Ursula insisted that we take you to the infirmary. You suffered from too much loss of Mana. Probably from when you gave that dragon almost all your power."

"Can...can I leave?"

"In a little, first you need to take some medicine to get your strength back. Oh! And before I forget, you still need to fix the tower AND clean the troll baths tomorrow, so have fun doing that."

Professor Lukić laughed maniacally as she gave Akko the terrible-tasting medicine.


"That was absolutely amazing!"

Inside the Blue Team's room, the girls were getting ready for bed. Diana was reading the last chapter of her book in silence while Elizabeth sat by the bed staring at the full moon. Hannah and Barbara were doing each other's hair. While doing that chore, the two girls proceeded to give Diana and Elizabeth endless praise for their magnificent victory over the dragon from earlier.

"The nullification spell is such a complicated casting that not even well-seasoned witches could perform easily! And yet you guys did it in a snap!"

"It wasn't easy," Diana replied while still keeping her eyes on her book. "The spell of Luna Lana requires extreme concentration and utilizing the full flow of mana within. If careless, we could have excitedly expired all our magic from our system."

Diana then closed her book and turned to Elizabeth who was still staring at the moon with a blank expression. The blonde witch smiled warmly at her.

"But I have to say what helped me better was your mana guiding mine through the wands. Thank you, Elizabeth…"

"Hm? Oh…"

Elizabeth, who seemed to have not been paying attention at first, turned to Diana and grinned.

"No problem! I'm just glad no one got seriously hurt!"

"Where did you learn how to perform such a high-quality spell?" Barbara asked while combing Hannah's hair.

Elizabeth replied, "My grandfather. He is a very skilled wizard but is also an extremely stern teacher. He never lets me or anyone else in the family take a break until we understand the spell."

"Your grandfather sounds to be a talented sorcerer," Diana stated. "I wish to meet him one day."

"Yeah…maybe…"

"And done~!"

Barbara placed the comb down and she and Hannah went to bed.

"Good night Diana! Goodnight Elizabeth!"

"Goodnight you two."

Diana went into her bed while Elizabeth took a pillow and was ready to sleep on a blanket that was laid out on the floor.

"Wait, Elizabeth?"

The purple-haired witch turned to Diana who was looking up at her from under the blankets.

"…Come sleep with me."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't want you to sleep on the floor. I find it appalling that the staff still hasn't come with your bed yet, but that's fine. Just come sleep with me."

"A-are you sure?" Elizabeth's cheeks turned pink as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't want to impose…"

"Nonsense. Not to mention you can just put a pillow between us if you don't want us to accidentally brush against each other."

"I-if it's no problem…"

Elizabeth slowly walked over to Diana's bed and entered the comforter. Cavendish was quick to fall asleep but Lucifer remained awake while staring at the ceiling.

Hours went by and the obnoxious sound of the ticking clock irritated her sensitive ears. The girl's mind did not rest and thousands of thoughts and memories that irritated and troubled her came flooding in all at once.

The worst of them was the one recurring memory…

"You lied to me, Elizabeth!"

The harsh voice echoed throughout her head, making her skull hurt.

"Molly—Veronica...they're all gone because of you! Because of YOU!"

"…hm?"

Elizabeth began to sniff around, her nose got the scent of something interesting. The purple-haired witch groaned in annoyance and got up from the bed immediately.

She walked over to the window and looked out into the schoolyard.

"I can't believe I'm dealing with these bastards now…"

Elizabeth then transformed into black smoke and squeezed through the closed window. The dark cloud which was the young witch floated down to the yard and returned to her human form. She stomped toward the still-destroyed New Moon Tower with her wand in hand.


After that soul-crushing episode, Akko returned to her bed, covered in bandages. Lotte and Sucy tried their best to cheer her up (actually only Lotte) but Akko blocked out their voices as she drowned in her own humiliation and guilt. The lights in the room turned off and Akko tried to force herself to sleep so that she would at least have the energy for the other half of her punishment the next day. However, Akko struggled to sleep as she felt the heat of something pressing against her eyelids.

The girl opened her eyes and nearly went blind by the light of the Shiny Rod she had lying next to her like a teddy bear.

"What is it now?"

Akko groaned in irritation as she got up from the bed. She was ready to put the staff in the chest by the desk area to block out its light, but she stopped her task when her eyes took a glance at the window and noticed something walking across the schoolyard. Akko went up to the window to see a girl with short purple hair walking towards the New Moon Tower.

"Elizabeth?"

The purple-haired witch in question had entered the New Moon Tower without looking back. Akko was still tired and sore from the day, but her suspicions of the new girl got the better of her.

The brunette witch opened the window and then picked up her wand which was lying on the bed.

She quietly chanted a spell.

"Metamorphie Faciesse!"

And transformed into a thrush, leaving the Shiny Rod behind and flying out the window towards the New Moon Tower.

The little thrush which was Akko fluttered inside the tower, landing on one of the windows as she watched from up high. Elizabeth walked into the building and waved her wand in the air. Instantly, all the candles lit up with small flames which brightened the room.

"I know you're here."

Akko at first squeaked in fear, believing she was caught but Elizabeth was not looking in her direction.

"Come out!"

The purple-haired witch then turned her head to something in front of her which at first was nothing but the spiraling shelf of relics. But then, a ball of light appeared in front of her and then transformed into the figure of a person.

"H-huh!?"

Akko was amazed by what she saw. In place of the ball of light was a young man who looked to be a few years older than Akko. He was well-built with short golden blonde hair and golden eyes. The young man also wore black vestments and had a golden cross necklace.

"Thank the Lord," the young man put his hands together and started praying. "For he has laid the sinner bare tonight…"

"Am I the sinner?" Elizabeth questioned in an annoyed voice as she put one hand on her hip. "What exactly have I done to enrage your "Lord" exorcist?"

"The name is St. Timothy and you know of the sins you have committed Elizabeth Wynn Emrys VI!"

"…what?"

Akko raised an eyebrow.

"Wynn Emeres…what? Her last name is not Lucifer?"

Elizabeth giggled.

"So…you know my true name, that must mean you are under the branch of that obnoxious Solomon! Yet he's not here to take care of me himself…"

Timothy frowned, his handsome face looking monstrous as he did and his eyes flashed like the blaring lights of a car.

"You know very well why Father Solomon is not here to face your demon! It's because you injured him three months ago!"

"He still hasn't recovered? Humans are so fragile…"

"Didn't you used to be human?" Timothy said. "Then you should know the pain of mortality and the suffering of sensations."

Elizabeth shook her head while smiling.

"Guess your master didn't tell you everything. No, I was never a human being. No one in my family ever truly was…we were all…born this way…"

"Is that so?"

Timothy sighed and took out a silver knife decorated with many patterns.

"Then I feel sorry for you…Creature of the Endless Night. You will never know the true warmth of the sun."

A vein on Elizabeth's head became visible after Timothy said those words. The purple-haired witch raised her wand which started to let out of dense magical particles.

"Enough talk, boy…"

"W-what's going on…?"

As the scene was unfolding, Akko was still in her thrush form, standing on the window. She started to sweat and pant in fear of what was transpiring.

"W-why did that guy take out a knife? I-is he trying to kill Elizabeth? What should I do? S-should I call for help? Should I—"

As Akko struggled to conclude what she should do, the fight between Elizabeth and Timothy commenced. And it was a battle that the young witch could not even comprehend. Both magic users were so fast that they only left behind purple and yellow blurs of their images and each time they threw a spell it either missed destroying pieces of the tower or it was negated.

A powerful hurricane surrounded them, pushing against the very walls of the tower and even making Akko almost get blown away. The little thrush that was truly a witch clung to the wall with her feathery hand as she proceeded to watch the dynamic battle.

The entire fight itself was only a minute or two but for Elizabeth and Timothy, it may have been hours. Both were moving at a ridiculously fast pace trying to overcome one another. Elizabeth fired spell after spell at Timothy while the bow swatted away his knife.

"That knife…that holy magic coming off of it is dense."

"It's a relic of the great past!" Timothy shouted as he ran up to Elizabeth for an attack. "This is the dagger of Elijah! He used for sacrifices!"

Timothy swung his blade but missed completely as Elizabeth dropped the upper part of her body back. But as the knife was done with its swing motion, a line of light fired off from it and made a slice mark on the wall of the tower.

Elizabeth looked back at the damage to the wall and whistled.

"A holy relic from one the great prophets of your Lord…that might make things difficult."

"Better believe it! With this, I know God is with me!"

"Sure."

Elizabeth fired a magical blast at Timothy but the exorcist sliced it and went in for a stab. The purple-haired girl transformed into a dark cloud and then expanded. The darkness consumed the entire floor and its winds were the strength of a hurricane which blinded Timothy due to the high winds.

"Argh! Enough devilish tricks!"

Timothy held up his dagger and chatted aloud.

"May the Lord's Glory protect me! Vanquish the demonic fumes of the earth and bring about the true nature of the world! Forever more! Currus Aureus!"

The small dagger became a long sword of golden light and with each swing, the tornado of darkness was cut away like butter. As the clouds faded, Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did you—"

Then the purple-haired witch sprung up from the shadow of the young exorcist and smiled maddeningly as she held up her long-clawed hands in an attempt to slash him. But Timothy was quick to block her attack with his sword of light and the two went for blow for blow.

Eventually, Timothy tripped Elizabeth and plunged the blade of light into her chest. The purple-haired witch gasped as she was stabbed and black blood exploded from her wound and painted the stone floors.

Akko was about to scream but she covered her beak before she gave herself away.

Timothy plunged the blade deeper and began to pray.

"Demonic creature…return to hell from whence you came…"

Elizabeth vomited a gallon's worth of black blood before responding.

"You say…return to hell…but I've never been to hell once…but please…tell me what it's like!"

"Wha—"

Exploded from Elizabeth's blood were dark spikes that pierced the body of Timothy. The boy did not even scream as his eyes widened in shock and he fell back. His wound was deep and his normal red blood spilled out onto the floor.

The blade lost its light and returned to the form of a normal dagger. Elizabeth easily took the dagger out of the chest and shattered it with a great clench of her fist. She threw the pieces of the broken blade to the floor as she walked over to the injured Timothy.

"That was pretty good," Elizabeth stated while her eyes looking dark like an endless pool of nothingness. "But you're still too young to deal with someone like me~…"

Timothy spat out blood and looked up at Elizabeth with contempt.

"I…will not beg!"

"Fine by me. After all, I am quite famished…"

"W-what…?"

Timothy's eyes widened in horror as Elizabeth picked him by his shoulders and got close to his face.

"It's been a day and all I had to eat was this horrible human food! You know something like that isn't good for me~…and I can just smell it…your blood~…"

Elizabeth licked her lips and then opened her jaw to reveal rows of fangs. Timothy's face turned pale with fear and tried to speak words but instantly fell silent as the girl bit him on his neck. He screamed out as the monster female began to suck on him like a straw. The more she sucked, the more wrinkly Timothy became until he looked like a pale shriveled raisin.

Akko resisted the urge to scream out in terror.

Elizabeth parted her now blood-filed teeth and lips from the now-dead Timothy's neck and sighed in relief.

"Refreshing..."

She wiped the blood off her mouth and stared at the shriveled-up corpse.

"I don't like humans when they're dried out…but if anyone finds this body it could be a problem..."

Elizabeth then began to tear the corpse apart and eat it like a chicken. Biting off all the meat, and leaving the bone.

Thrush Akko could not stand it anymore and flew back to the academy.

The brunette witch retreated back into the room and transformed back into her human self. She lay in her bed, but she was unable to go to sleep thanks to her mind going a million miles per hour from the sight of the murder she had just witnessed and the discovery she had made.

"Vampire...Elizabeth is a freakin' vampire!"


Author's Note:

Interesting Fact: In the beta concept for Elizabeth, she was the one who was supposed to trick Diana into opening the Iron Maiden which released the dragon in the first OVA. I decided to switch the characters from Diana to Akko to fit the story. And Timothy is a completely original I introduced…and quickly killed off in the same chapter. Thank you for reading and see you next time!

Please check out my own original web novel, "The Branded Hero Volume 1: Baxter the Failure". The tale of a hero who has been outcasted by the world since releasing The Demon King: /series/The-Branded-Hero-Volume-1-Baxter-the-Failure/info

And please check out my webcomic, "The Curse of Gringerfield" on Webtoon and Tapas!

Webtoon: https/en/canvas/the-curse-of-gringerfield/list?title_no=970667

Tapas: /series/The-Curse-of-Gringerfield/info

Next Chapter: The Strength of A Vampire