Séraphine's Visual ability was activated, causing a slight glow to emit from her eyes, indicating its use. As she did so, she noticed special changes in the mansion in front of her.
Ignoring the strange atmosphere, she noticed large amounts of spiritual energy rotating on the roof, but she did not understand what it meant at the time.
Additionally, she could see red smoke, the manifestation of spiritual energy, staining the entire cottage and giving it a gloomy appearance. The place was extremely corrupted by this energy, as if something else wanted to gain a foothold.
"We seem to have gotten ourselves into a more complicated mess," Séraphine said to Élodie, who stood silently, staring ahead with a tense body.
She may not have had the ability to see things that others didn't, but her years of service in the military had developed her instincts. Standing in front of this house felt dangerous, causing her body to react automatically.
She held her hammer tightly, crouching slightly, ready to act if anything happened. However, except for the distant rustling of trees in the wind, all was quiet.
"This place gives me a very bad feeling," replied Élodie, causing Séraphine to nod as she deactivated her ability.
"It's corrupted by spiritual energy. It's probably full of danger," commented the witch, standing shoulder to shoulder with the blonde.
The difference in their heights was hardly noticeable; both were six feet tall. The two, weapons in hand, took a step forward, intent on entering the cottage.
"I hate those kinds of places," growled the policewoman, briefly recalling things from her past as a soldier.
"There are two of us. Even the purification rituals I know wouldn't work here. They're only good for relatively mild situations, not something as monstrous as what I just saw," said Séraphine. She was somewhat worried about what she might find inside, but she still advanced.
She opened the door, which was not locked. The creaking slowly warped into an annoying squeak. Élodie stepped forward, the first to fully enter the building, her hammer ready to smash any enemy.
She needed it for what she found inside. Attracted by the sound, creatures emerged from the corridors and doorways near them. They were child-like in size with green skin barely covered by rags and eyes filled with indescribable excitement when they saw that the visitors were women.
Goblins. They were barely sentient creatures, not considered 'people' by the Tower. Unlike gnomes, lycanthropes, or vampires, goblins were simply considered pests to be exterminated.
They were too savage to coexist with other beings. They would attack anyone who crossed their territory. To a goblin, everything in sight belonged to them.
They were incapable of clear communication or proper reasoning, acting chaotically. Although their group could produce certain special goblins who were more intelligent and measured, it was not worth including their species among the sentient entities.
Séraphine scrunched up her face as she watched them approach with assorted weapons and trinkets in their hands. Their drooling mouths and constant shouting, as well as the stories she knew about goblin brutality, made her act long before Élodie.
The witch didn't know why they were there; she didn't want to find out. She simply unsheathed her weapon and expertly waved it over those creatures. With simple slashes and stabs, one, two, three goblins fell dead in front of her before Élodie acted on her own.
The warrior raised her heavy hammer above the fragile heads of these beings and shattered them with ease. They were not human; how could she doubt? She laughed as she heard the skulls crack under her powerful blows.
Séraphine frowned slightly when she felt how easily her sword slid into the enemies' bodies. However, she didn't give it much thought at the time because she didn't usually engage in complex reasoning when attacking her enemies.
Soon, under the quick and methodical actions of the two women, the group of goblins lay dead beneath their feet, staining the ground with blood. Puddles of red liquid formed on the ground, and the smell of fish enveloped the area.
Neither Élodie nor Séraphine was tired; killing them had been an easy task. However, they remained alert because something strange about this situation had caught their attention. The two women had already noticed certain incongruities during the killing.
The goblins were very easy to finish off. Even Élodie, immersed in the euphoria of combat, had noticed this extremely peculiar point. These creatures were not considered nuisances because they were so easy to eliminate, so something was amiss.
It didn't take long for this to become apparent. Soon, a goblin corpse began to writhe. Its skin cracked, and something escaped its body. Séraphine recoiled, feeling deep fear for the creature that had just emerged from her fallen enemy's body.
It was a gigantic Killer Wasp, a creature whose cruel and twisted nature is used to frighten small children in children's stories. It was smaller than a goblin because it had just emerged from one.
Its body was covered with yellow and green lines. It stood erect, supported by two stout black legs, and had two arms of the same color that ended in spikes oozing a transparent green liquid.
Its wings flapped gently on its back, lifting its body as it emitted a distinctive buzzing sound. The huge wasp looked at Élodie, then at Séraphine. Then it spoke.
"EAT," a thick voice emerged from the little monster before it flew swiftly toward Élodie, wanting to drive its barbs into her body.
But the blonde was quite a skilled fighter. Her aether-enhanced body allowed her to evade the wasp's attack and then hit it with her hammer, sending it into the wall. As she was about to crush it, Séraphine tapped her shoulder.
"Didn't you learn anything in the army? If you kill her, the others will come out!" Séraphine shouted in annoyance before pointing at the fallen goblins.
Though blood stained the entire place, the corpses of the goblins were still visible, trembling slightly even though they were dead.
A shiver ran through Élodie's body, and she breathed softly to calm herself. She had noticed that she had become more reckless and careless, and she didn't like it. After a brief meditation, she looked at the battered wasp that was insistently trying to crawl toward her. Its intentions never changed.
"I wasn't trying to kill it. I was trying to incapacitate it. I know these things. I've dealt with a Queen before," said Élodie, explaining her actions to the witch. The witch simply hummed with a bit of disdain, though there was some interest in her green eyes.
"A Wasp Queen? Those are intelligent beings with annoying capabilities," Séraphine thought, remembering a few things about them that caused her to shiver slightly.
"EAT!" shouted the monster that insisted on devouring them despite its poor physical state. The witch cleverly kicked the monster, sending it against a glass window. The window broke, and the monster fell outside the cottage.
"Look, I understand your motives. Still, I don't care if your actions are the product of overconfidence, ignorance, or insanity. Calm down and stop being so reckless." Séraphine stared at Élodie before walking past her and ignoring her.
The blonde wanted to say something, but remained silent. She decided to simply follow the brunette, avoiding the corpses of the fallen goblins. She didn't want to wake the infamous killer wasps.
Her earlier desire to attack and crush did not make her forget about these sentient beings. Like the goblins, however, they were dismissed from the category of people because it was impossible to engage in concrete dialogue with them.
They were generally genderless but liked to deposit what could be considered their eggs in living organisms, allowing them to parasitize and devour their hosts. The only good thing was that, although they hung around in groups, the lack of a queen generally limited them.
Élodie remembered her encounter with that particular queen, which made her more attentive to her surroundings. However, she also wanted to resolve the tension between her and her companion.
The blonde tried to think of something to say, but refrained from speaking because she didn't want to make things worse.
Understanding that simplicity was better than a long monologue, she made a decision. She simply walked behind Séraphine, who was still upset with her.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'll be more cautious from now on," said the policewoman. She wanted to do this; she didn't want to get hurt or worse because she lost control of her emotions.
"Hmmm! Well, at least you have some self-awareness," the witch replied haughtily before stopping in what appeared to be the living room.
"This place..." Séraphine's eyes emitted a subtle gleam before dulling.
"Holy shit, how many mimics!" the blonde exclaimed in amazement. Her experience had taught her that this huge room was filled with glitches that could only be associated with this type of creature.
There were red carpets that fluttered as if breathing, sofas whose cushions looked like squinting eyelids, five-legged chairs, and abnormally white porcelain without any intricate designs or shapes resembling decent craftsmanship.
The large chandelier above them barely concealed its oddity; the 'candles' were covered with small eyes that peered curiously at the women. The dripping wax was saliva.
Séraphine raised an eyebrow at Élodie's words and reluctantly acknowledged that the police were much more than the image of reckless, muscular warriors. This caused the witch to feel an even greater interest in her current companion.
"Have you faced them? It would be helpful to know if someone has experience," the witch said, somewhat curious but also concerned.
She had fought Mimics very few times in her life, so few that she could count them on one hand. They were unusual creatures that liked to turn into other entities or objects to catch prey.
Upon hearing Séraphine's question, a smile spread across the policewoman's face as she puffed out her chest with pride. It felt good to be recognized, so she lowered her voice so that only the witch could hear her.
"Yeah, you don't know how much they resemble the battlefield. That's why, in the army, we're advised not to pick up any weapon lying on the ground because it might be one of those creatures in disguise.
They are a bit troublesome to kill, but the real threat is that there are so many of them here. The best thing would be to not provoke them and retreat because we cannot quickly determine their number." Élodie indicated this by pointing the way they had come. But life had surprises in store for them.
Suddenly, the door behind them closed with a loud bang, as if pressing a pause button on the place. The witch and the police officer tensed and stood immobile, waiting for a miracle.
Mother Light works in mysterious ways. The mimics were altered by the noise and began to lose their distinctive form. If any creature closely resembled the madness Séraphine glimpsed in the mezzanine of the world, it would be these beings.
Their false bodies liquefied, revealing their true limbs. They had dense eyes that gaped greedily, long strands of flesh that flailed wildly, and screeching mouths that were filled with fangs covered in disgusting saliva that yearned for flesh.
"Shit, the spiritual energy here is too high..." Séraphine briefly activated her Vision and watched as red smoke covered the entire place, though there was no sign of corruption.
At least, there wasn't until the door closed and the mimics went on a rampage. When that happened, the room they were in underwent drastic changes.
The paint on the walls peeled off; the texture was similar to skin. With the black blood oozing from the walls, it was as if they had been skinned.
Cracks covered the floor from which unintelligible voices seemed to cry. The light coming through the window dimmed visibly, limiting visibility. Above all, it filled the atmosphere with a piercing coldness, contrary to the warmth the aether provided.
Perhaps the most profound difference between the two most common energies Séraphine had interacted with so far was this aspect. While the aether arising from her soul's resonance when casting spells was warm and embracing, spiritual energy was extremely cold and painful.
When the witch sighed, white mist came out of her mouth, indicating the low temperature. Despite being relatively exposed due to her partially buttoned shirt, her body did not shiver.
How could she shiver when she was accustomed to baring skin while wearing expensive clothing, even in winter? She was a witch, after all! However, the visual manifestation of spiritual corruption seemed to empower the mimics.
"Great, now they're corrupted." Élodie frowned, tightening her grip on the handle of her warhammer. Instead of wanting to strike first like before, she took a slight step backward.
Ignoring the scream of the corrupted rift she had just stepped into, the blonde watched the mimics. They were now tangles of flesh with appendages, obsessive eyes, and large mouths in the center of their bodies. A strange red smoke enveloped them.
Their constant grunting worsened, as if they were debating their options among themselves, yet they always kept one eye on the pair of women, as if fearing they would disappear if they stopped watching them.
"Should we take the initiative?" asked Élodie of the witch, causing the latter to touch her chin as she thought.
Séraphine's mind constantly processed everything happening in front of her until a half-smile appeared on her face. Drawing her rapier gracefully, the brunette assumed a combat stance, her free hand poised to gesture as soon as she decided.
"This time, I think we can be a little wilder. From what I saw, there were no more annoying bugs, just those chattering meatballs," Séraphine declared. As if her words were an offense, the mimics paused, then glared at her.
"You shouldn't have said that," the blonde muttered before enhancing her body. A blue glow covered her and her hammer, accompanied by a hum and the slight distortion of the air due to the temperature rise.
"Oops!" the witch exclaimed before forcefully stabbing forward, driving the tip of her rapier into the gaping mouth of a mimic that had leapt at her at high speed.
Her weapon easily pierced the creature, but that wasn't the end. Instead, the mimic twisted its flesh appendages and extended them toward the brunette. They transformed in the air into metal needles, all aimed maliciously at her vital parts.
Séraphine certainly didn't want her body turned into a pincushion or feel the paralyzing venom of these beings coursing through her system. Her available hand became coated in aether as she 'shooed away' the flies around her.
A wave of blue energy was unleashed, hooking the mimic on her weapon and pushing back the other creatures that had gotten too close.
Taking advantage of this, Séraphine did something she had not done in her previous fights. She activated the enchantment on her weapon. The gnome did not recognize her rapier as a 'magic weapon' for no reason. Under Séraphine's will, a green glow coated her rapier.
When she waved it over the wounded mimic, the blade easily cut the creature in two, causing it to perish. Although she felt slightly uncomfortable using a spell, her training with this weapon allowed her to wield it effectively.
With each slash, a thin line of emerald light was drawn in the air, similar to the light in her eyes. The glow lingered in the environment for a few seconds before fading, indicating the rapier's exceptional nature.
'A rich woman, then,' thought Élodie as she watched Séraphine dance around the room with her magical weapon.
Watching the witch perform delicate fencing moves and twirl her body while moving carefully and waving not only her arms and legs but also her hair and cleavage distracted her a bit.
The police had to admit that Séraphine was quite attractive and seemed to miss no opportunity to prove it. Although she thought about this for a long time, she barely spent any time in the real world.
She had just swung her warhammer heavily toward the floor, crushing a mimic that had tried to emulate a sword. The force of her blow cracked the floor.
The room itself shook from the blow, but Séraphine was used to it. She quickly threw a punch at a mimic trying to imitate plate armor. Though the feel resembled metal, her fist shattered the replica's chest before hammering down hard on its head.
Élodie took note of this and kept moving, sometimes firing her pistol at key moments and other times swinging her big hammer at the floor or wall. She had become a wrecking machine, smashing everything in her path.
Due to the corruption, the mimics' blood turned black, and they smelled worse than corpses, quickly making the place stink unbearably, but the women didn't care.
The mimics took diverse and surprising forms during the battle. Séraphine even cut up a flying sex toy with her rapier, indicating that that particular mimic was used for those purposes or had come into contact with such objects, neither of which made the situation pleasant.
They not only simulated objects, but also living beings and people. Luckily, they did not resemble children, but they did resemble the cultists, goblins, and bees they had killed before. The most problematic mimic was the last one.
When only one remained, and victory seemed almost within reach, the last enemy transformed into a gray wolf the size of a horse.
"It seems to mimic the mistress of this place," said Élodie, breathing slightly agitatedly from the continuous effort she had endured.
Enhancing her body with aether came at a price. Élodie tried to be thrifty, but the strange things the mimics turned into made her expend too much energy.
"An appetizer, then, of what we'll be faced with if words don't work." Séraphine narrowed her eyes, ready to act at any moment.
"I've had fellow lycanthropes in the military. Let me take the lead." The policewoman positioned herself in front of the witch. At that moment, the wolf came hurtling across the shattered, corrupted room, straight at her.
The witch deftly took a few steps back, watching as Élodie stopped the beast's advance, using her hammer for protection, and then kicked its head hard. Then, in a demonstration of her police skills, she emptied the rest of her pistol's magazine into the animal.
Black blood splattered from the animal, but it continued to attack, trying to bite and claw at Élodie. However, she was like an impenetrable wall, preventing the wolf from harming her or Séraphine.
The wolf had tried to approach the witch on several occasions, perhaps considering her an easier target. Although the wolf was agile enough to avoid being hit by the blonde's hammer, it was always cut off and hit with kicks or fists.
Séraphine watched the fight, taking note of the risky, ever-changing fighting style of the blonde, which was learned during her time of service. Although the witch didn't ask the blonde's age, she guessed that she was probably in her early 20s.
'Twenty years old, and she looks like a master of hand-to-hand combat,' thought the brunette, intrigued by the situation. She watched the fight with increased anticipation.
However, the fight ended relatively soon. After injuring one of its paws, the wolf's agility decreased enough that it couldn't avoid having its head smashed by an aether-coated warhammer.
"It doesn't compare to a real lycanthrope. If anything, it's slightly better than a normal wolf," said Élodie, as if answering Séraphine's unspoken question about why it won so quickly.
"A copy will only be a copy," commented the witch, who had already put her rapier away. After the death of the last mimic, the room regained its pre-corruption appearance.
Séraphine knew this was an illusion, but it was better than hearing the cries of pain from the cracks in the floor. She decided not to complain.
"The house...the corruption in it's too high. It has transformed it deeply, it has given it a certain sensitivity," said the brunette. This made Élodie stand on guard again, looking warily at the walls of the room.
"Corrupt buildings are the worst," the policewoman growled under her breath. Séraphine gently put her hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. It's all under control for now," Séraphine said softly to calm the blonde.
This simple gesture made the blonde visibly relax before she lightly shook off the witch's hand. This gesture only made Séraphine smile slightly before she unlocked and opened the door that had been closed earlier with ease.
"From the outside, you can see that there are two floors. We should look for the stairs. Surely that's where the person we're looking for can be found," the witch said, indicating the stairs. Then she walked out the door and explored the corridors.
The policewoman was left alone for only a few seconds before following the brunette. Inside, she still had some doubts, stemming from the strange sensation she felt when Séraphine touched her earlier.
The duo explored some rooms on the second floor but found nothing relevant: no attacks, no ambushes, and certainly no valuable clues to help them solve the situation.
Except for the initial attack by the goblins and the later attack by the mimics, the place simply looked like an ordinary cottage. However, this only exacerbated the sense of danger the women felt.
Séraphine would rather fight in this tense situation a thousand times over. Meanwhile, Élodie easily recognized what was going on: someone was using the absence of danger to put them at a psychological disadvantage by playing on their expectation of an enemy who had not yet arrived.
Recognizing this, she moved to Séraphine's side because she had noticed the witch's nervous state. With a smile on her face, the blonde put her arm around the brunette's neck. As they walked, she began to chat.
"Don't worry. We'll probably have to fight when we get to the second floor. This situation is just part of some mind tricks to pressure us," said the blonde. Her carefree tone helped Séraphine, who had encountered this situation for the first time.
The witch looked carefully at the policewoman. Although she didn't feel uncomfortable with the woman's closeness, she found it odd that she was so good at clearing people's minds.
"Thank you," said Séraphine, and the policewoman feigned surprise, widening her eyes and blowing out air with one hand.
"By Mother Light! I didn't think Blume's most prominent witch would apologize!" commented Élodie, mockingly retaliating for all the times Séraphine had scolded her.
Although the police acknowledged that she had made some mistakes due to her absent-mindedness, no one likes being treated like a foolish child. Thus, she had held a grudge against the witch for a while.
A self-critical smile appeared on Séraphine's face, but she simply shook her head and kept walking. Now, however, she felt much more relaxed.
Noticing how calm her new companion was, the blonde woman also smiled slightly. However, she didn't separate her body from Séraphine's and stayed next to her, keeping her arm wrapped around her neck.
After checking an office-like room where they found a strange cocoon wrapped in cobwebs, they found the second-floor staircase, which was difficult to locate.
The interior design of the cottage was strange to them both, but at least they had reached this point. The two separated cautiously, and Élodie took the lead, holding her warhammer in both hands as she climbed the stairs.
Séraphine followed her, her rapier drawn, attentive to whatever might happen. But when they reached the second floor, a sudden darkness swept over the area, causing them to lose visibility.
"Hehe~! So the Witch and the Warrior have arrived! Come on~! Come to die!" a hoarse female voice called from the distance. A blue flame flared on the wall, dimly illuminating a long corridor.
"They seem to be welcoming us, though they wish us harm," said Élodie, trying to joke around at this tense moment.
"Well, if we were anywhere else, I would have fled long ago," Séraphine replied shamelessly. Since she was already there, she decided to advance to the end.
A piece of wood sticking out of the wall like a torch served as the source of light, emitting a barely warm blue flame that provided just enough illumination for them to make out their figures.
With each step they took in the wide hallway, another one of these makeshift torches sprang from the walls as if the house itself were organizing the atmosphere for the meeting of the two women with the central figure of this place.
Their footsteps echoed on the wooden floor. After walking down the unusually long corridor—probably caused by a spatial deformation resulting from the building's corruption—they came to a huge room.
Darkness shrouded the room, but they could both sense something here: a presence breathing, watching, yearning. They heard a loud, deep breath, and Séraphine resisted the urge to activate her Vision to find the creature. She sensed it would reveal itself.
More of those makeshift torches covered the walls of the new room, and gradually, light filled the space. The most striking feature of the room was a large ritual circle made of fresh, liquid blood.
More remarkable, however, was the huge beast in the middle of the circle. It was a lycanthrope fully transformed into a werewolf. Standing four meters tall, it had dense gray hair, amber eyes, and a terrible smile that revealed its huge teeth.
"Welcome, Little Hoods," growled the creature, waiting for a response from the women. None spoke.
Élodie was tense and ready to fight, so she remained silent. Talking during a fight was taboo, and she had already made mistakes on this mission. She didn't want to make more.
Séraphine, on the other hand, looked at the main symbol in the center of the ritual circle: an inverted cup covered with roots. Only this time, it was made of human blood.
The witch's body froze. Her mind tried to remember something, but she resisted. At that moment, her eyes glowed green, activating her Vision.
What she saw made her burn with anger. Tearful faces appeared in translucent figures with open mouths, screaming silently. They were specters, reflections of souls trapped on the earthly plane for one reason or another. On this occasion, she could easily tell why.
Purple roots ran through these poor entities, twisting into their figures and imprisoning them in the ritual circle beneath the wolf woman's feet. Worst of all was the laughter she could hear coming from nowhere. It had a mature, sensual, delicate tone that made her skin bristle.
"Do you like what you see, my beloved Visionary?~" They are crying with pleasure~! Wouldn't you like to join them? After all... I smell one of my own on you. It seems it was one of my kind who gave you that little gift~" The voice ended with a long, booming laugh, which brought Séraphine out of the trance caused by her ability and forcibly deactivated it.
"Hey, witch, get your act together! This werewolf woman is an alpha." Élodie shook Séraphine's shoulder, finally making her react to what was in front of her.
The lycanthropic woman had dropped to all fours, opening her huge mouth toward them and wagging her tail excitedly. Her eyes gazed greedily at the girls' bodies. In her raspy voice, she spoke.
"I want to taste you~! Your flesh must feel soft, right? It looks so springy and firm~" the creature growled before pouncing toward them.
Her powerful claws screeched as her huge, heavy body ran over the wooden floor, making it creak in her wake. Although the creature looked dangerous and imposing, Séraphine and Élodie waited for her, ready to fight.
This time, the police received no reproach for proceeding; she was best suited for the task. The blonde's body glowed blue, and the air around her distorted from the heat emitted by the aether.
Élodie moved toward the lycanthrope, swinging her warhammer with precision and striking the werewolf woman's jaw abruptly. The impact was hard enough to send her several feet backward, her head swerving to the side.
At that precise instant, a jet of hot aether hit the beast's neck, making a popping sound and flipping its body over, sending it tumbling backward.
Séraphine formed a fist. She had cast a spell, taking advantage of the opportunity presented by her companion. The witch knew it was not wise to use her rapier against a creature far stronger than her, so she decided to use her true strength:
Magic.
"What a pleasant feeling~" a different voice said from the body of the lycanthrope woman. She had sat up quickly to avoid a hammer blow from Élodie and a blue energy needle thrown by Séraphine.
A little blood came from her mouth, and her fur was somewhat singed in those wounded areas, but otherwise, the creature was in excellent condition. The werewolf snorted, causing a powerful gust of wind. An unnaturally long tongue darted out of her mouth to lick the blood from her lips.
"Hmm~ How will your blood taste?" the same voice said again. It was different from the beast's original thick voice and resembled the same one used by the entity that both Séraphine and Élodie had heard earlier.
"What are you?" the blonde asked. Though her question would have an obvious answer in another context, this time, a huge smile broke out on the lycanthrope's face.
"My name is Mirian, at least, this body goes by that name. Wouldn't it be better to find out for yourselves what I am? We can chat about my origin. They say I'm excellent company~" said Mirian, or rather, the entity speaking through her possessed body.
"I hate possessions," Séraphine growled before gesturing with her left hand and channeling aether from deep within her soul.
It was the gesture of a pair of scissors cutting. Two lines of blue energy emerged from her hand, coming dangerously close to the werewolf woman's neck before colliding with each other and seeking to sever the creature's head.
As Élodie charged again, leaving several remnant images in her wake, she concentrated much of her energy into her hammer, ready to unleash a powerful technique. Would Mirian let it all go their way? No.
Displaying her enhanced reflexes in this form, the werewolf woman ducked, avoiding Séraphine's spell. When Élodie was close enough, Mirian attacked with a powerful paw.
Supernatural creatures may lack specialized methods like magic, but they have abilities that make use of aether. The more intelligent the creature, the more diverse and interesting these abilities are.
How could Mirian not have a repertoire of ways to fight? The werewolf clashed her claw against the heavy hammer, and for a moment, there was a stalemate, a brief contest of strength between them.
Élodie lost. She had to back up several steps to lessen the impact, her hands trembling, which prevented her from defending herself properly. Suddenly, a powerful kick struck her abdomen. At that very moment, Mirian's energy glowed.
The lycanthrope formed blue energy claws with aether that struck the blonde with full force, sending her against one of the room's walls and making her tremble. At that moment, however, a large aether hand embraced Mirian's body so tightly that her sturdy bones creaked slightly.
"You seem angry, Witch," the entity said, using Mirian's body, but Séraphine chose to disregard it. Instead, she used her free hand to make another gesture: a punch aimed at the werewolf woman's face.
A blast of energy hit the lycanthrope's jaw squarely, and the sound of a broken bone echoed through the huge room. Séraphine then smashed Mirian with the other hand she had been holding her with, sending her crashing into the ceiling and floor several times until dizziness caused by mental strain made her stop.
"Yes... Remind me not to make you angry." Élodie approached Séraphine. Her abdomen wasn't hurt, despite her ruined police uniform, but she could feel a nasty bruise forming.
The witch put two fingers on the bridge of her nose, trying to endure the discomfort caused by casting spells continuously. The pause that occurred during her rampage gave her a brief opportunity to collect herself.
"It's good that you learned your lesson, but this isn't over yet." After calming down, the witch looked at Mirian, who had slowly stood up and was glaring at them with hatred.
"Looks like we can't fix this properly. Too bad." From the beast's claws, counterparts made of pure energy emerged, and its muscles began to twist slightly, channeling new forces into its body.
"Like the wolf that crushed the piglets' houses to devour them, I will break their bones and use them as my holsters~" This time, it was Mirian, the body's genuine owner, who had spoken.
Her amber eyes looked earnestly at the two women, especially Séraphine. After puffing white steam, she walked slowly toward the girls. All the while, an invisible pressure surged from her, shocking the minds of the witch and the policewoman.
"When I get tired of playing with you, you will join me in my ritual, hehe~ I hope your moans are as sweet and enjoyable until then," that entity said again, laughing at a joke only she could understand.
Mirian had become serious. Now, a true alpha werewolf was about to show her real power in the second round.