Chapter 14: Breaking
A massive shockwave that destroyed the street floor and broke the walls of buildings arose as Akko and Elizabeth clashed with Howard and Joan. Magical spells, fists, and kicks were thrown everywhere as the four magical teenagers tried their best to defeat their opponents. Elizabeth herself was far from worried, she had fought many exorcists and had killed them all the same. Father Solomon, a veteran exorcist whose holy magic could have incinerated the young vampire, was the only one who gave her a bit of trouble. Thanks to Gungnir, Elizabeth was able to get the troubled Solomon and critically injure him, but she was unable to take his life.
The exorcists in front of her were obvious apprentices and they relevantly should have been weak compared to a vampire like Elizabeth. However, Joan and Howard remained calm as they were able to parry every spell and push the vampire girl with their own attacks. Joan was calm and collected, and her sword sliced anything like butter. And there was Howard who continuously launched multiple projectiles making it hard to shop moving and even when Elizabeth got close to him the boy's hand-to-hand combat was so efficient that she was unable to land a decisive blow.
Elizabeth hated to admit it, but the two exorcists she was fighting were exceptionally powerful. Even the company of Akko did not change the difficulty of the fight. Even though Akko had some chaotic vampiric magic in her veins she was still green to battles, and she lacked the proper knowledge of killer spells. Despite that, the emotionless maid was still able to hold her own against Joan and Howard who did not even give her a chance to breathe.
"Have you vampires pissed your pants yet!?" Howard yelled as he tried to punch Elizabeth, but the vampire girl managed to block her.
Elizabeth smirked and retorted, "Hah! In your dreams you pathetic brat!"
"Then let's make this more exciting! Aroasadahu Drykana!"
A large orange glowing magical circle appeared between Howard and Elizabeth. Spewing from the magical circle like a hose with water, a gust of fire was thrown at the vampire rapidly. Elizabeth's right arm and leg were burned but other than that the purple-haired vampire managed to backflip away. But Howard was far from down.
"Kertina Karegrana!"
Another orange magic circle appeared above Elizabeth and rained down small meteorites. Like a gorgeous ballerina, the vampire girl gracefully dodged each and every fiery boulder without it even scorching her dress. As the last boulder fell to the ground, its fire for some reason rose higher than the rest creating a pillar of flames.
"W-what the—"
Coming out of the flames was Howard himself, who delivered a powerful punch with his fist covered in burning orange flames. Elizabeth was ricocheted off the ground and crashed into the nearest building. Howard then walked over and stood over her with his hand still on fire.
"How do you like that bitch!?"
Elizabeth spat the black blood out of her mouth and stared up at the young exorcist with an irritated look.
"You have a strong affinity for fire. The flames can't even seem to hurt you…"
"That's why they call me God's Phoenix back at the church!" Howard declared while flexing his muscles. "I am the strongest apprentice of the current age!"
"Hmph! You're quite prideful…even more than that other guy…"
"Other guy?"
Howard's smile fell as he stared at Elizabeth with widened eyes.
"What other guy? Who are you talking about?"
Elizabeth smirked.
"Wouldn't you like to know~…"
The spiky auburn hair of Howard then burst into flames and the boy clenched his teeth in rage. He looked similar to that of a god of flames as rings of fire surrounded his human body spinning continuously like hula hoops.
While Elizabeth retained a confident expression on the outside, inside she was starting to sweat.
"I think I'm starting to push my luck," Elizabeth said in her head. "Even though he is a human he's got so much magic! I need to regroup and get my family! But Akko—"
Elizabeth turned to Akko who was fighting on the other side of the town square with Joan. The female exorcist moved as fast as the propeller of a helicopter, her sword not even visible as she swung it. Akko was able to dodge every single swing, but her bones and joints looked out of place as she did. To avoid damage, the very body of Akko was breaking down her own muscles and bones to be able to dodge Joan. Despite Akko having a healing factor, Elizabeth knew that it would not matter if the girl eventually ran out of energy.
"I can't leave her! She's gonna be helpless in a matter of minutes! But…so will I be if I don't get help!"
Elizabeth stood up and stabbed the tip of her wand to the ground.
"Unda Tenebrarum!"
A pool of darkness, more blacker than the skies of night, exploded from the ground and started to flood the streets.
"W-what the hell!?"
Howard jumped up into the air and summoned a platform made of light for him to stand on. Joan did the same as a massive wave of darkness was coming towards her and Akko. She first jumped to the roof of the nearest building and then created her light platform right next to Howard.
"How's Mother Agatha?" Howard asked Joan.
Joan scoffed.
"Fool! You don't need to worry about her…"
The two looked down to see Mother Agatha still standing in the same place when the fight began. For whatever reason, the waters of darkness dried and disappeared before they could even touch her shoes. The powerful woman of the church stood tall with her arms crossed and her eyes set on the sinful prey before her.
As for Elizabeth, she acted quickly. The spell she cast was not for an attack but was a diversion. It worked perfectly as Howard and Joan backed away and gave time for the vampire girl to grab her familiar and run down the far side of the town.
"Don't worry Akko! We're gonna be— BAH!"
Elizabeth's reassuring words were cut short as her face slammed into what seemed to be an invisible wall. She fell to the ground and looked up at the street that seemed to be unreachable. Even the people of the town continued to walk and do their normal routines without even noticing anything.
"H-hold on," Elizabeth turned back around to where she was fighting and realized something. "There is nobody on this side of town…what did you do?"
Agatha replied, "I cast a barrier spell the moment the fight began. Do you think we would get innocent people involved in this battle? We intend to purge you quietly without anybody noticing."
Elizabeth grumbled in irritation as she aimed her wand at Agatha.
"Your spell won't last forever," Elizabeth stated. "After all you are still just a human! There is a limit to how much your magic can do!"
"That is true, usually this spell would last for about a few minutes. But lately, there has been a…growth in the potential of magic."
"Growth what do you—"
"I think you know, Myrddin Emrys," Agatha said with a scowl. "After all, it is the work of your family is it not?"
"Oh…shit."
Elizabeth facepalmed.
"It's the connection between this world and the 'Fair Realm'. The magic of that world is flooding into this one just as we planned. That means that wizards can now start using spells even if there are no Sorcerer's Stones nearby. Argh! Damn you old geezer! You didn't have a backup plan for this!?"
"So it was you guys who did this to the world!" Howard shouted as he pointed at Elizabeth. "What the hell did you do to the planet!?"
"Language Howard," Agatha stated quickly.
"S-sorry ma'am…"
"Huh? Why are you so upset?" Elizabeth said as she shrugged, trying to play dumb. "Magic has returned to the world just like it used to be back in the Golden Age! You wizards and witches should be happy about the strength of Magic returning!"
"Yes we should be," Joan replied. "But anyone with sense can tell that this mana flowing through the air is not normal! I have no clue what you undead have done but it must not be for the good of the world!"
"Oh trust me," Elizabeth's eyes had turned black and she smiled wickedly while showing her fangs. "It is…"
Then darkness began to cover the entirety of Elizabeth's wand, turning into a longer wand with a black and bat-like design. The side of her head also unveiled her bat wing as she floated into the air and summoned dark clouds in every direction. Akko was in her arms.
"Be ready," Agatha ordered her disciples as they took their battle stance.
"Surround me and enclose me in the otherworldly darkness…Immensus Adflictio!"
Long dark stingers came out of the clouds and launched themselves at the three exorcists. Howard and Joan managed to avoid it while Agatha stayed put. The dark stringer shattered before it could even touch her.
Like missiles, Howard and Joan launched themselves in Elizabeth's direction, avoiding the stingers while doing so. The stingers returned to the clouds and quickly formed a black cocoon that captured Elizabeth and Akko. Howard jumped onto the cocoon and slapped his hand onto its surface, conjuring an orange magic circle.
"Stop hiding and fight you damn demon! Difranieado!"
The cocoon then exploded into pieces, green magic particles flying everywhere. As Akko and Elizabeth fell to the ground Joan and Howard landed down and immediately began to attack.
And so they continued to clash, zooming around in the air and blitzing everywhere. In one second they were in a part of town fighting and the next second they were in the other.
Howard high-kicked Elizabeth on the side of her head knocking her to the floor. Akko was avoiding Joan's strikes once again but was not prepared as the female exorcist elbowed her in the stomach. She then grabbed her arm and threw it into the water fountain that stood in the middle of the town square. The structure of the fountain broke into pieces and fell right on top of Akko.
The maid quickly recovered and launched herself into the air. Joan met her as they clashed with a powerful kick. They immediately unleashed a flurry of attacks on each other, the intensity of their strength creating loud booming sounds that mimicked thunder.
Seeing Akko fighting for life, Elizabeth tried to rush over and help her, but a fireball that came from her right side blew her back. The vampire girl skied on the floor and looked up at Howard with a face that matched a monster of nightmares. Her hair became wavy like seaweed and multiple purple eyes and sharp-teeth mouths grew in her face. Multiple black angel and bat-like wings grew on her back and a long black lizard tail with Luna letters inscribed on them.
"Gross," was all Howard said as he summoned two fireballs in his hands and threw them at Elizabeth.
Back to the fight with Akko and Joan, the female exorcist was quickly able to get the upper hand in the hand-to-hand fight. She kicked Akko in the stomach and then gave her a mean uppercut. As Akko flew in the air, Joan grabbed her foot and then slammed her back down to the ground, cracking the floor.
Akko spat out blood and immediately tried to get up, but Joan pinned her down by impaling the sword in her chest. The maid screamed out the blade went in deeper.
"Stay down," Joan said coldly.
Akko simply grunted and gave no words. Her eyes lacked any form of emotion as she tried vigorously to yank the blade out of her chest. As that was happening, Joan looked down and noticed something strange about Akko's wound.
"Her blood is not black?" Joan questioned. "That's strange…she's a vampire! Her blood should have been darkened by the evil magic…unless…did she just recently turn?"
Joan continued to look at Akko worriedly as the girl still tried to pull the sword out.
"If that's so then maybe there is still time to save her," Joan said aloud. "Hey! Listen to me! If you surrender, I promise that we will not kill you! We'll take you to the church where the high priests can remove the evil magic from your—"
"YOU BITCH!"
"W-wha—"
A monstrous Elizabeth appeared by the side of Joan, covered in black and evil aura. She delivered a spinning kick to the side of Joan's neck and launched her into the building on the far side of town. Howard, whose head was bleeding, charged at her with a loud battle cry ready to swing her slingshot. But Elizabeth did a backflip and hit him with a roundhouse kick, knocking him back as she headstand and kicked him again. She then jumped up into the air and fired a hundred dark stingers at Howard.
"HOW DARE YOU BASTARDS HURT MY AKKO!"
Elizabeth howled as she proceeded to attack Howard ruthlessly.
"JESUS CHRIST!" Howard screamed as he dodged the stingers. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!?"
"Howard!" Agatha yelled from across the town. "Language!"
"Sorry!" Howard yelled back as he rolled his eyes.
Then at the far side of the town, coming out of the debris was a bleeding Joan who spat on the ground revealing blood, spit, and a single tooth.
"Howard!" Joan shouted as she ran over to him, her hands emitting a white magic circle. "Stay on your target!"
"She blinded for a second with some dark mist!" Howard replied. "Just finish off the other vampire, I'll be done in a minute!"
"Change of plans—"
Joan then slid behind Elizabeth and did a German suplex. The skull of the vampire girl crashed against the concrete.
"Let's just kill this one. And ONLY this one."
"What!?" Howard screamed in confusion and rage. "But what about the maid!?"
"She's not a full vampire!" Joan yelled. "She's just been recently turned! The high priests can reverse it!"
"Oh!" Howard's anger vanished and he smiled. "Why didn't you say so? Okay, let's kill this demon and save the girl!"
"W-what are you bastards saying?"
Elizabeth got back up and the darkness coming off her body was starting to become thicker and swirl around the area like a tornado.
"Are you…planning…to take my Akko…AWAY FROM ME!?"
"She's not yours!" Joan yelled. "She's a poor girl that you forcefully transformed! We are going to save her and get back her humanity!"
"YOU IDIOTS DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! I LOVE AKKO AND AKKO LOVES ME!"
Elizabeth then teleported to Akko was still stuck on the floor due to the sword Joan impaled on her. Elizabeth grabbed the hilt of the blade which started to burn her hands as if she placed them on a burning pan. With a loud beastly scream, she pulled the sword out and threw it back at the exorcists, which Howard caught.
"I WILL KILL ANYONE WHO TRIES TO GET IN THE WAY OF OUR HAPPINESS!"
"What is she trying to do?" Howard asked as he gave the sword back to Joan.
The male exorcist's question was quickly answered as Elizabeth raised her hand to the sky and summoned Gungnir in its full glory. The terrifying magical energy that came off of the godly spear could be felt as the two young exorcists backed away. Even Agatha, who originally remained calm and collected, started to lose her composure the moment she laid eyes on Gungnir.
"What!?" Agatha shouted. "Why does such a monster have a weapon like that!?"
"Shatter the World! Gungnir— Level Three!"
Elizabeth aimed the spear at the sky as it fired a red beam. The beam made contact with what seemed to be the top of the magical barrier that Agatha made and it shattered instantly. The barrier fell apart like glass and the real town back.
"Akko!" Elizabeth screamed over. "Let's run!"
Elizabeth waved her hand and conjured mist to cover them.
"You're not getting away!"
Howard yelled as he ran right into the mist.
Joan chased after him while shouting.
"Howard! Don't just rush in!"
As the young exorcist was chasing her partner, running alongside her was Agatha with what seemed to be a lantern with a white flame inside.
"M-Mother Agatha? Why are—"
"I believed that I didn't need to intervene but if this vampire can use Gungnir then I must! With that power, she could level the entire country! We need to slay her NOW!"
"Y-yes ma'am!"
As the exorcists entered the mist they looked around to find their enemies. In a matter of seconds, Howard was able to spot the silhouette of someone running. Without even thinking he charged and tackled that person, disappearing into the thickness of the mist.
"HOWARD!"
"This is too much!"
Agatha raised her lantern which released a blinding light. The mist separated revealing only Elizabeth who was holding Gungnir and looking around confused.
"W-what— Akko!?" Elizabeth screamed while looking very panicked. "Where did Akko go!?"
"Howard must have got the other girl," Agatha said.
Joan sighed.
"I hope he doesn't get too rough with her. She's technically still a human…"
"Let's deal with the threat in front of us now St. Joan."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Not even focusing on the two exorcists who were aiming their weapons at her, Elizabeth ran off to try and find Akko. Agatha and Joan gave chase as they then cornered Elizabeth in an alleyway.
Realizing that she went down a dead end, Elizabeth turned back to the two exorcists with an annoyed glare.
"Nowhere left to run you monster!" Joan shouted as she pointed the tip of her sword at the vampire girl.
Elizabeth's eyes turned even darker, and eight other eyes grew around her face.
"I was having such a wonderful day with Akko…you annoying bastards ruined it. Ruined it! I'll make sure that you suffer the most gruesome death possible!"
Gungnir vanished from Elizabeth's hands and then dark mist encompassed her whole being. Once the smoke parted, the purple-haired teenage girl had transformed into a giant white spider monster with eight dark eyeballs that seemed to eat away at any light it could see. Both Joan and Agatha lost the color in their faces as a monster from hell charged at them with a horrifying roar that matched the screams of a thousand dying people.
Agatha regained her composure and held out the lamp towards Elizabeth.
"I call about the Holy Light of God! Purge the evil that stains the world— Lux Sancta!"
A shockwave of light emitted from the lantern and attached itself to everything in its radius. To avoid getting harmed by the holy light, the spider monster jumped up in the air and fired disgusted webs everywhere. Joan was able to slice some of the webs but her foot was caught in one of them.
Elizabeth roared as she jumped down to attack Joan who was stuck.
"Joan! Cover your eyes!"
Agatha got in front of her disciples quickly and released more of the holy light.
"Lux Sancta!"
Coming out of the lantern was a biblical accurate angel which seemed to release holy flames that torched the spider monster. In a matter of seconds, the flame consumed the monster and all that was left was ash.
The two exorcists breathed heavily as the angel vanished and the monster seemed to be no more.
"M-Mother Agatha," Joan said. "You did it! The monster is—"
Out of nowhere, a string of webs wrapped itself around the middle part of Agatha's body and strung her up to the top of the buildings.
"M-Mother Agatha!?"
Above the buildings was Elizabeth in her spider form, the only difference from before was that her human form was sticking out from the front. She giggled manically as she stared at the trapped exorcist.
"That was just a clone made of darkness," Elizabeth stated. "I knew you didn't have the power to keep an angel in this world for long…now~…"
Elizabeth brought Agatha closer and bit her right shoulder. The older exorcist cried as the fangs of the vampire sunk in deeper, releasing blood.
"That's not enough…how about— THIS!"
The vampire then used her clawed hand to slice off Agatha's right arm that held the lantern. Her arm fell to the ground and the lantern shattered, releasing the white flame that burned the limb to dust. Agatha could not even wail anymore and just groaned in agony as she was losing blood.
Elizabeth licked the blood from her fingers and smiled.
"That's what you get for ruining my day…now it's time to die. Go to where your Lord is and leave me and my loved ones the hell alone…"
Just as Elizabeth was about to finish off Agatha, she was distracted by a blinding white aura coming from down below.
"W-what?"
Down below, Joan was coated in a holy light and she had one white angel wing coming out of her back. Cutting the thick web and freeing herself, Joan flew into the air and punched Elizabeth. The spider monster was thrown to the wall and cracked. And just as Agatha was about to fall, Joan caught her with one arm.
"J-Joan…"
"Mother Agatha…leave this to me! Seventy-Seven— Sanctus Blades!"
Three massive rings made of swords of light appeared behind Joan and then sliced up the spider monster into pieces. Elizabeth fell to the street, burning from the holiness of the blades. Her body was slowly regenerating as Joan flew back down and placed Agatha on the wall to rest.
"D-damn! Damn you! DAMN YOU!"
Elizabeth was then covered in dark smoke again and once it was gone she was in the form of a giant white wolf. With a mighty howl, she summoned multiple ice spikes from the ground. Despite that, Joan cut away everything as if it was just grass.
"THEN HOW ABOUT THIS!?"
Elizabeth screamed as she transformed again, this time to her fully-powered vampire mode. Moving as a shadow, Elizabeth got close to Joan and clashed with her sword with her fist. The vampire girl then lands a headbutt but Joan slashes her a few times.
Reaching the end of her patience, Elizabeth released a hurricane of darkness that destroyed half the town. Many people ran away in fear while some were unlucky enough to be caught in the blast. Agatha looked in horror at the damage, it was exactly what she wanted to avoid.
"You demon! Stop before you destroy…t-the entire…town…"
Agatha then lost consciousness from the blood loss and then Elizabeth exited from the dust of the destroyed town. Nothing but destroyed buildings and the screams of people— not even Joan was present. The vampire assumed she had got the young exorcist in the previous attack.
"Akko…"
Elizabeth grabbed Agatha and teleported away, however the moment the vampire girl was gone, a small piece of paper floated out of the corner of a building. The paper then exploded into smoke and revealed itself to be Joan.
"T-that was close!" Joan said with heavy breaths. "I-I have to get that vampire now!"
Meanwhile, there were a few explosions in an old rusty bar. Akko jumped off a table as Howard tried to punch her, but she did a split and escaped by rolling away.
"Metamorphie Fociesse!"
Akko then transforms…into a bunny girl. Howard at first laughed at the sight, thinking that she messed up the spell. Instead, Bunny Akko put all her strength in her legs and started to bounce around the entire bar at extreme speed.
"Holy crap!" Howard screamed as he narrowly avoided a kick to the face. "She uses metamorphosis magic like!? I underestimated her!"
Bunny Akko then lands in front of me and casts another spell.
"Metamorphie Fociesse!"
Akko then transforms into an orange cat and starts scratching Howard's face.
"Ouch!" Howard shouted. "Quit it!"
The male exorcist tried to grab Akko's tail, but she leaped above him and transformed into a cat girl. Neko Akko then proceeded to deliver strong kicks which propelled Howard back.
Neko Akko then went behind a counter and started tossing old glass bottles at Howard who dodged them easily. But as the male exorcist was running from the glass accessories flying at him, Neko Akko came from behind a table and clapped his head in the middle between two metal plates.
Blood spilled from the nose of Howard, veins becoming visible on his forehead.
"That's it! I'm done with this!"
Yellow flames began to erupt from the body of the young boy.
"I don't care if I'm going against the church by using my power, I'm sick of you! IGNEA DEI VERBA!"
The holy flames exploded everywhere, Akko could not escape and was consumed by them. She screamed as her body was scorched, the pain of the holy fire was unbearable.
"Ah! AH! DAMNIT! THAT HURTS! MY GOD THAT HURTS!"
"Heh," Howard turned to Akko and smirked. "So you can talk?"
"I-I…what?"
Akko completely forgot about the pain she was in and realized that she was able to move her body again, she was able to speak again. She was free.
"T-…the spell is broken…?"
"Huh? What spell?"
Akko smiled as tears of joy fell from her eyes.
"I'm free! I'M FREE!"
Akko jumped in the air as her body slowly began to heal itself, Howard just stood there completely baffled.
"I'M FINALLY FREE!"
"Free from what!?" Howard stated with a bothered glare. "You're not making any sense!"
"Huh? Oh!"
Akko turned back to Howard with a smile.
"Well, I'll tell you!…Metamorphie Fociesse!"
Akko then used metamorphosis magic to transform into a mouse.
"HEY! GET BACK HERE!"
But Akko had already left the building by escaping through a hole and then she used magic again to become a fish and swam in the bank.
While she was swimming, Akko was able to fully process the sensations and emotions coursing through her body. She felt weak and hungry. She was sad, scared, angry, and miserable after everything she had been through. In her mind that was only one thing she wanted…she wanted to get back at the ones who made her love through hell.
As Akko saw the land, she transformed back think a human and sat down. She released a sigh of relaxation and allowed the sun's light to dry her off.
"I'm free…now I can—"
"Akko!"
"Shit!"
The voice of Elizabeth from behind alerted Akko. The Japanese girl quickly stood up and pretended to look emotionless like she did before when she was still under control.
"You're ok thank goodness you're ok!" Elizabeth said. "Look what I got!"
Elizabeth showed off the unconscious Agatha and giggled.
"I think with this I may avoid a scolding…oh what am I talking about, Dad is gonna scold me anyway. Well, whatever, let's head back. And don't worry about the townspeople— Hans will take care of it!"
The vampire girl then hummed to herself as she walked down the street with Akko right behind her. They were heading back to the mansion.
"I need to play dumb for now," Akko said to herself in her head. "I need to wait for Elizabeth to leave…so that I can get the Shiny Rod back! I'm not leaving without it!"
Author's Note:
Then ends this long chapter! Akko is finally free but she is far from being out of trouble. As a matter of fact Akko's trouble is just starting! Can she successfully get the Shiny Rod back from Merlin? Let's see in the next chapter! Also thank you Angry9guy again for helping me make these chapters at a faster pace!
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: en/canvas/the-curse-of-gringerfield/list?title_no=970667
Tapas: /series/The-Curse-of-Gringerfield/info
Next Chapter: Playing the Fool