The undead were not an uncommon enemy. There were many ways these entities appeared in the real world. Yet, most agreed that these beings were abominations.
They were a desecration of the dead and a deviation from the concept of life. As they generally involved the soul, they were one of the worst things that could happen to a living being for Séraphine.
No matter what kind of undead creature it was or how it originated, being trapped in a rotting, decaying body twisted by ruin was torture.
The origins of the undead varied, ranging from phenomena attributed to supernatural forces, such as spiritual corrosion, possession by various entities, magical research, alchemical creations, and the result of a ritual.
These phenomena resulted in strange occurrences, such as talking skulls and reluctant souls being anchored. It was also possible to see skeletons moving, clearly a manifestation of the power of mysterious disciplines.
The most obvious example was the crowd before Séraphine: reanimated bodies of innocent women screaming because they felt the breath of life close to them and wanted to extinguish it.
There were also 'natural' ways for one of these beings to emerge, whether from an unidentified pathogen, such as a virus, fungus, or parasite, or even from a person's unyielding will at the moment of death. This may have been the type of undead creature that Séraphine did not hold in such contempt.
Although related, ghosts and immaterial creatures associated with souls were not considered undead beings; however, they were just as problematic. The witch had had some bad experiences with these spectral beings and considered them annoying.
However, zombies were not limited to nature or the supernatural. They could also be created through scientific means. Though rare, there was evidence that science could disrupt souls.
This was undoubtedly another example of the power of traditional research, with no mystery involved. It was probably a way for scientists to demonstrate their ability to get to the bottom of things.
The sight of all those women who should have been dead but whose bodies had been reanimated shocked the witch. The impression was so strong that she bit her lower lip hard and clenched her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"Who caused this beastliness!?" Séraphine was angry at that moment. She quickly reviewed her knowledge of these creatures, and with her cry, her eyes began to emit a greenish glow characteristic of her special Vision.
This could only mean one thing: she was using her special vision. She had felt a strange urge to use this ability ever since, but she had refused to activate it, not only to avoid trouble but also because she liked to be contrary in such situations.
Now? She didn't care about such things anymore. The world blurred before her eyes, reality lost its meaning, and space itself distorted beyond what a normal mind could bear.
She was used to this kind of thing, though. Living for almost seven years with these kinds of changes had given her excellent mental resilience, enabling her to endure the pain caused by seeing strange things.
The moment she activated her ability, she saw a golden spiral stretching into infinity and covering the entire place like a protective cloak.
Seeing something like this was strange. It seemed that this place was more than just a simple spiritual fragment eroded from the real world. However, the witch was not paying attention to this particular scene, so she kept the questions that arose in her mind to herself.
She looked down and saw Musu, the cat who was always by her side. The little animal was licking its paws and running them through its fur. This act was normally cute, but now it seemed deliberate.
"The smell here is quite interesting! Don't you think, Séraphine?" the white cat meowed. She got down on all fours and flexed her body as if she were about to hunt.
"You'll find something delicious up there. Don't forget to give me a share," Musu said to Séraphine. Before the witch could respond, the cat vanished.
Séraphine shook her head, knowing this companion's attitude, and focused her eyes on the reanimated corpses slowly approaching her. The skin of each zombie fell apart, revealing rotten muscles, ulcerated flesh, and cracked bones.
As expected in this situation, she could see a dense red spiritual energy emanating from these bodies. After all, it was obvious that the fragment of the Spiritual World had severely eroded these women.
Furthermore, Séraphine could discern a faint glow in each zombie, which she identified as the women's souls. Having spent so much time researching the Immaterial, how could she not know what those things were?
"Damn it... I hate it when they mess with souls," Séraphine growled. As if her words had flipped a switch, the witch, in her current state, could hear things a normal person couldn't.
The voices of souls. Slowly but surely, murmurs came to her. They were different from the plain voices of the undead. At first, they seemed like gibberish, but soon they became clearer and more understandable.
"It hurts..." This voice came from the undead closest to Séraphine. Her body was covered in a tattered, bloodstained nightgown with holes in the fabric, indicating her sad fate: she had died from being stabbed.
"I don't want to stay here!" This cry came from the soul inside a naked zombie. The former beauty this woman must have possessed in life was ruined by burns and terrible wounds, indicating that she had been tortured.
"Mom... forgive me, I should have listened to you, I shouldn't have..." was a whimper that came from a relatively intact corpse. Her clothes were slightly dusty but otherwise in good condition, but her face was purple, and the finger marks on her neck revealed that she had been suffocated.
The screams accumulated as if competing to enter her ears. Séraphine frowned at this; she didn't like what she was hearing. The pain of these women terrified her, but she clung to it.
At this point, her mission was no longer about money or a hidden agenda. It had become deeply personal. As a woman, she empathized with the plight of these trapped souls.
The payment Madeleine had given her, her desire to investigate, and her curiosity were no longer important to her. Now, a much more primal desire drove her: to protect humanity and correct what was being twisted in this place.
Séraphine was a witch, a detective, and a scholar. Above all, though, she was a human being. She couldn't see tortured souls without feeling something. So she took a risk and pushed her special vision to the limit, causing a green glow to spread across her face in lines.
The overload allowed Séraphine to notice a thin, almost imperceptible thread of ether connected to the zombies' heads. The other end of the thread was on the stairs and hidden from her and the other girls' view due to the angle of the stairs.
'Someone is controlling them,' Séraphine thought, associating this discovery with her mission. The clues were enough to form several hypotheses in her mind.
A cruel smile appeared on the witch's face. If there was a manipulator behind this, it would probably be Howard Stone or someone related to him. This did not change the outcome. Whoever it was, they would be crushed by Élodie and brought to justice.
Séraphine was about to deactivate her ability because she had obtained the answers she needed. She didn't want to trigger an episode of her curse in this place because it would incapacitate her for a while. She didn't have much time in this situation.
Suddenly, she felt a tug on her consciousness similar to what she had experienced at the beginning of her exploration of the place. This caused the witch to look up toward the center of the golden spiral covering the place.
Before her eyes, the spiral became increasingly blurred until it condensed into a bright, floating point. It appeared pristine and indifferent, or at least that's how it seemed to Séraphine when she focused her vision on it.
Then, her point of view transcended, and she saw the world from a strange and unknown perspective. Before she could ask herself any questions, however, she saw something that sent a chill down her spine.
She had thought the spiral might be some kind of protection, but she had no proof. Séraphine thought she would never find out because she couldn't spend much time investigating the site.
However, she now had confirmation. The golden spiral hovered over what she guessed was a fragment of the spiritual world, protecting it like a shield or cloak from whatever was outside.
A pair of enormous gray hands tried to approach, but the spiral repelled them. Each contact dimmed the spiral's golden color, indicating a loss of energy or integrity. Regardless of which it was, it was extremely dangerous for the witch.
She couldn't see the owner of those hands. Just glimpsing those limbs gave her a terrible headache. Séraphine groaned in pain, and blood dripped from her nose as she felt as if someone were stirring a piece of hot iron in her brain.
At that moment, however, the spiral's glow fell on her body. Although it did not take away the pain, it conveyed what the witch called impressions and ideas. With her face covered in blood, Séraphine smiled because she had gained two extremely valuable things.
First, knowledge, which would allow her to expand her research and develop a spell that she sensed could be useful in the future. Second, she gained an understanding of the nature of this place and the entity to which those hands belonged.
The second thing was that she understood a little more about the nature of this place and the entity to which those hands belonged. Knowing the danger of thinking too much about such things, however, she kept that information to herself.
She had planned to explore it further at a quiet and safe moment. For now, she was finally able to deactivate her special vision and see the real world again. She realized that everything that had happened had only lasted about five seconds.
The witch knew this could happen, but never expected it to happen now. For Élodie, Madeleine, and Sasha, her eyes simply glowed green. Then, she looked up at the sky before clutching her head as her nose began to bleed.
"Sasha doesn't understand why you screamed and then smiled. Let me help you," said the pink-haired fairy. She flew toward Séraphine and landed on her shoulder. Then, she touched Séraphine's face with her tiny hands.
This demonstrated the difference between Sasha and the other fairies. A faint blue glow emerged from her palms and covered the witch's body. Her nosebleed stopped, and her headache subsided, allowing her to stand up straight.
"Thank you," said Séraphine. The smile lingered on her face as she looked at her worried companions.
Madeleine bent down as if trying to get a better look at Séraphine's condition. She frowned, not quite understanding what had happened to the detective. Was there a danger present other than the zombies and the strange mushroom in the distance?
Élodie, on the other hand, approached Séraphine with a white handkerchief she had taken out of her pocket. Standing in front of the witch, she paused, somewhat hesitant; it didn't seem like something she should be doing at that moment.
This was not only because of the intimate nature of the action, she had planned to wipe the blood from Séraphine's face, but also because the zombies had descended many of the steps and were gradually increasing their approach speed.
"Hm? We'll flirt later, warrior. Right now, I'm angry, and I need to let off some steam." Understanding her dilemma, Séraphine patted the blonde on the shoulder before looking at the zombie at the front of the horde.
"Let me put you to rest in peace." Unable to hold back, the witch's soul vibrated, generating the ether she needed to unleash her magic.
Séraphine's words caused her companions to prepare; a thin layer of blue energy covered Élodie's skin, and Madeleine raised her human torso, her snake tail swaying behind her as she prepared to attack.
𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝
"Looks like you have some interesting company, Stone." At the bottom of the enormous staircase was an open space with shattered columns and a marble floor mottled by time. The only source of light came from a few flowers that stubbornly grew despite the harsh conditions.
The speaker was a figure wearing a red robe with gold detailing and a hood that hid their face. From their tone of voice and exposed hands, it was obvious that they were a woman.
She looked toward the distance, and a bluish glow emanated from inside her hood, indicating that she was using ether. From the meaning of her words, one could infer that she had seen the trio of women arrive by magical means.
She addressed a group of men, specifically the elderly man in the middle. He wore a suit, and his thinning gray hair and glasses revealed his ruthless brown eyes.
He leaned on a black cane held in a gloved hand while standing among his lackeys. Upon hearing the woman's words, a sinister smile appeared on his face.
His free hand radiated an intense, hot glow, indicating that he could use ether. This energy was divided into dozens of threads so thin that they seemed invisible.
The men around him held various weapons and watched the hooded woman cautiously. She casually waved her hands before looking into the distance as if something there had attracted her attention more than Howard Stone's actions.
"They're just three more women to sacrifice," Howard replied, his voice filled with disdain. He, too, had sensed the arrival of three intruders. Perhaps something in his dialogue amused the woman, who let out a slight chuckle.
"Sure, I just gave you a little help, and now you think you're invincible, don't you? Remember that there are many things in this world that can beat you," the hooded woman said with mockery in her voice. This caused Stone to frown before he shook his head.
"It doesn't matter. Those things are far away from me. Besides, the ritual has already begun," said Howard Stone, pointing to the distance where he had drawn a dark ritual circle on the marble floor that gave off a fishy smell.
It was made entirely of blood, with splatters around the edges, giving it an even more terrifying vibe. Spiritual energy had become visible, twisting and pulsing constantly as if breathing.
However, the crimson energy waves, which should have caused more havoc in this space, were contained by a force field emanating from the ritual circle.
"Hmm, what will be drawn this time? It seems to be taking too long," the hooded woman muttered. She didn't understand why this ritual, which should have already produced a result, was taking so long.
"What does it matter what comes? We brought a piece of the Spirit World into the real world. Isn't that the best reward? We just need to stabilize it. That bitch is good material," replied Howard Stone, his voice laced with anger as he waved his fingers, pulling the threads of ether.
His glasses were expensive alchemical equipment that allowed him to connect his vision to certain devices placed at key points in the location. The staircase area was the location he monitored most closely.
He had seen the trio of women arrive, but he wasn't paying attention to the police because he had a deep contempt for law enforcement. After all, money made the law a mere suggestion for someone like him. Why would he respect the police when he had the resources he possessed?
He ignored the witch and the words she spoke. What could she, a simple witch, do? Although her appearance sounded familiar, Howard wasn't interested in someone as insignificant as the brunette. After all, since he could solve his problems with his status, why would he need the services of that woman?
However, there was a hint of caution in his eyes. For him, the danger posed by Séraphine was the remote possibility that she might ruin his ritual. But he felt quite confident at that moment; the advantage was firmly on his side.
All his attention was focused on Madeleine, the Lamia, and an actress he believed he knew quite well. He had introduced her to the world of cinema and given her leading roles, allowing her to achieve stardom.
But here was the snake woman, bringing company to this place! Did she want to investigate? Howard's smile revealed his neat white teeth. He had had his eye on Madeleine before. Was this his chance to "settle the score" with her?
"Hehe, you hid so much and didn't want to see me, but now you've come to my territory. Isn't the world good to me? It always has been!" The zombified corpses under his control became increasingly savage, closing in on the three women.
The hooded woman simply shook her head, noticing Howard Stone's spiritual corruption. It was not physical, but mental, and with her experience, she could identify it easily.
But did this man need to be corrupted by this energy to be the way he already was? She had the answer. Having lived with this man for a while, she had seen his actions.
"No, you were already a bastard before, but only people like that could be useful," the hooded figure reflected, shrugging her shoulders and feeling that this attempt had been a failure.
The ritual did not materialize. Instead, it caused spiritual erosion. However, it never crossed her mind to take over this place. Only someone as inexperienced as Howard Stone would think he could do that.
When one of her spells allowed her to see who was approaching, she concluded that she didn't need to stay to know that Howard's end would not be good.
"But at least I've gathered a lot of interesting data for my research. Not to mention, she'll like what I've got here. And him...it looks like I can introduce him to a new goal." Under her hood, the woman smiled, hoping to see an excellent show soon.
"Lady Osmond's apprentice is interesting, with those green eyes that look like lanterns. Will the clown be able to handle her? HAHAHA! That would be worth seeing," she laughed softly, imagining scenarios she was eager to witness.
"Besides, that mushroom came with those women. I don't know why, but that creature gives me a bad feeling. It simply devours living beings. It's not the strangest thing in the spiritual world, but I feel like running away is the best option...." She fell silent, realizing this was a warning from her sixth sense. She decided to trust her instincts.
Thus, the hooded woman reluctantly took one last look at the gathering of spiritual energy before stepping back, fading into the shadows, and heading toward one of the entrances.
She didn't want to reveal herself to the forces of law and order so soon, so she abandoned her supposed companion. She also didn't want to put herself in danger because of someone she didn't care about.
As she made her way to the exit of this fragment of the Spirit World, strands of her red hair were visible through the opening of her hood. One strand was a braid with a golden bead at the tip. She quickly hid it with a smooth movement, accustomed to this action.
The confrontation between three women and a horde of controlled zombies began with her departure, but the redhead didn't care about the outcome. After all, the hooded woman thought that Howard Stone's use of her invented spells was subpar.
"I'd like to see that guy scream, but I have to take care of my little daughter. How did she end up at Lady Zhang's store? It looks like I need to be stricter," she muttered. Although her face was not visible, her tone suggested a maternal smile.
𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝𑄝
Séraphine was the first to spring into action, although she had no weapon in hand; these were safely stored in her hat. With a gesture, magic manifested itself before her.
She struck forward with her fist, generating a jet of ether that hit a group of undead creatures. Since they had little effective defense, her attack was quite effective.
Perhaps due to the bodies' state of decomposition, Séraphine's spell destroyed several of the undead with relative ease. The fallen corpses were a minor obstacle for the monsters behind them, allowing Séraphine to retrieve her hat.
As Séraphine drew her rapier, Élodie lunged forward and swung her warhammer horizontally, striking one of the zombies' exposed ribs and shattering the white bone. She pushed her enemy aside.
The police officer had a serious expression on her face as she kicked an undead creature that jumped toward her and tried to grab her. She easily used her left hand to grab the gun from her waist.
Without hesitation, she fired twice at her fallen enemy; the bullets hit its head and shattered it. Maintaining her steady pace, she continued to advance alone against the bulk of the horde.
It could be dangerous in these circumstances. Élodie was aware of this, but she was not alone in this fight. A heavy snake tail fell to one side of her body, shaking the area and crushing several zombies trying to flank the blonde.
Madeleine joined the fight. Her snake eyes narrowed as she moved swiftly, propelled by her serpentine body. Her sharp claws tore apart nearby enemies with several slashes.
On her left, a green flash appeared. Séraphine held her rapier. Although the witch did not have an enhanced body like her two companions, she was highly skilled in swordplay.
Séraphine adopted a combat stance, holding her enchanted weapon in her right hand and gripping the handle of her revolver tightly with her left. With a simple aim, she fired.
The bullet emitted a crimson glow as it streaked through the sky and struck a zombie in the chest, causing an explosion. The flames spread to other nearby zombies, igniting them.
This made the fire-affected zombies easy targets for attacks by Élodie and Madeleine, who responded with their methods.
The police raised their hammer high before bringing it down on the ground, not on the head or body of a zombie. The sound of metal hitting the floor was jarring, but no one cared; they were more concerned with the effect of the blonde's actions.
At the moment of impact, a line of ether appeared, traveling through the weapon until the energy was channeled out of it and shot toward the enemy that Élodie was aiming at. This energy attack was not a simple shock wave, but rather quite elaborate.
Rather than simply colliding with and destroying the zombie's limb, the energy climbed up its body until it reached its head, finally exploding. The resulting sparks were fired with excessive force, like pellets, hitting the surrounding enemies.
"I have ranged attacks too!" Élodie exclaimed, glancing briefly at Séraphine. Despite her serious expression, Séraphine couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Just don't get distracted and use up too much energy since the real enemy is up there. These things... are just poor victims who need to be freed from their suffering," Séraphine replied, firing at another zombie. This time, she used a normal bullet. The impact of the projectile allowed her to destabilize the creature's balance.
This allowed her to get closer. With her rapier gleaming from its activated enchantment, she stabbed the undead creature's rotten eye. The tip of her weapon pierced its brain and emerged from the back of its neck.
This feat was a product not only of her skill but also of how sharp her weapon was. Even Élodie couldn't help but mutter under her breath in envy. After all, not every magical weapon is perfectly enchanted and extremely expensive.
Madeleine glanced at the rapier, which glowed with an intense green light matching Séraphine's eyes, and clicked her tongue. She glanced sideways at Nisca, the talking mushroom that had guided them there.
The strange spiritual creature stood in the distance. Although it lacked discernible facial features, it was clear that it perceived everything happening. This had been confirmed before, but its tilted head made it look confused.
Under different circumstances, this would have been cute, but Madeleine remained cautious, knowing Nisca's abilities. She tried not to get too close to the being while fighting the zombies, as did both Élodie and Séraphine.
But although they did not approach the creature, Nisca did. With clumsy steps, the talking mushroom approached a fallen zombie. Instead of devouring it, as it had done with the bat's body, the mushroom reached out and touched the zombie's forehead as if it wanted to understand something.
"This was one of Nisca's friends... they were all Nisca's friends..." the mushroom murmured, its voice tinged with sadness. It appeared as if something had been activated inside it, as its body began to bubble and a red light covered it.
"Get away! That's spiritual energy!" Séraphine warned her two companions, who quickly stopped attacking the nearby enemies and moved away from Nisca. They didn't know exactly what was happening to the creature, but they had their ideas.
"I'm not surprised. Isn't it supposed to be the ally of those who did all this?" I never liked it. We should have crushed it earlier and explored on our own," said Élodie, gently turning the hammer in her hand. Séraphine shook her head.
"I feel strange saying this, but I don't think this thing is evil. It seems he had a connection with these women when they were alive and were brought here. Nisca seems very naive, don't you think?" The witch's question made Madeleine touch her chin, deep in thought.
"I wouldn't be surprised. Spiritual creatures operate very differently from us, beings of the earthly world. Did it get angry because of what they did to the women? Are they an ally or a potential enemy?" the Lamia wondered. Her words stirred up fear and anticipation in the women.
"Don't worry! That thing doesn't want to hurt us," said Sasha confidently.
The little fairy had been frightened when she sensed Nisca's commotion. Upon seeing the spiritual energy covering the mushroom's body, she flew to a place she felt was safe. She returned after confirming a few things.
"That mushroom is scary and not as pretty as those in the real world, but it's still a mushroom. What do you think its function is in nature?" In a haughty tone, as if she knew everything, the pink-haired fairy floated around the three women before finally resting on Madeleine's shoulder.
"They are regulators and decomposers, but above all, they are natural entities that support both plants and animals. Sometimes, however, their role as regulators requires them to act against them." Sasha quickly understood, and Séraphine gave that answer, causing the fairy to begin clapping her little hands.
"Exactly! It seems that Nisca became familiar with some of the zombified women, and the actions of the person behind the scenes may have triggered a hidden mechanism."
After all, messing with souls is the greatest taboo in both the spiritual and real worlds, which is why beings that devour souls are so frowned upon." Sasha said this as she watched Nisca's body turn into something more than a mushroom.
Bright spores shot out of her body and melted into mycelium, which spread voraciously throughout the stairs. Tendrils and appendages trapped every undead woman present.
"This is..." Élodie didn't know what to say, but she was grateful that she had held back her impetuous nature since yesterday's experience. Today, she had avoided dying a terrible death.
The walking corpses were now trapped but had not suffered any new damage. Knowing Nisca's ability to dissolve organic tissue, however, the blonde could perfectly imagine what the result would have been if she had recklessly attacked the fungus.
Nisca's form was completely lost, turning into a mass of white threads that continued spreading until it trapped all the zombies.
At this point, their activity stopped, and they heard a strange wailing sound, as if a child were crying. For some reason, this made them feel sad because they understood that the sound represented Nisca's sadness.
"I don't understand... weren't spiritual creatures always the bad guys in stories?" Élodie scratched her head, looking to Séraphine for answers.
"Spiritual energy is harmful, but many of its derivatives are not. Some creatures from the Spiritual World are kind. I was raised by one, you know?" Séraphine's reply caused the blonde to raise her eyes in amazement.
"Now that's some excellent gossip," Madeleine added, causing some of the witch's bad mood to dissipate as a smile spread across her face.
"You always have to be cautious, but never prejudiced. That's why I was gentle with Nisca. Otherwise, I would have attacked from the start," said Séraphine. Perhaps because of the mention of her name, the white mycelium in front of the women trembled, then began to writhe.
The zombies slowly consumed themselves. Instead of looking grotesque, they simply disappeared from existence, like fungi on fallen trees or dead animals.
When the process was complete, the mycelium manifested four appendages that slid toward the girls. Even though they were on guard, nothing bad happened. They simply floated in front of their bodies before something emerged from the tips of each one.
Mushrooms are considered the fruit of fungi. When Séraphine saw a green mushroom in front of her that resembled the color of her eyes, she didn't know how to react.
"I think it's giving us a gift," said Madeleine, who didn't hesitate, taking the purple mushroom in front of her with two fingers.
"Is it a good idea to eat a mushroom from the spiritual world?" asked Élodie as she took the blue mushroom Nisca offered her. It was the size of a fist, similar to the ones Séraphine and Madeleine had.
"I don't know. You tell me," Séraphine replied with a hint of exasperation. She was constantly tossing the mushroom in her hand, unsure of what to do. Should she eat it?
As for Sasha, Nisca gave her a pink mushroom, similar in size to a button mushroom and adapted to the tiny stature of fairies. This made the pink-haired girl smile.
Upon receiving the gift, Sasha greeted the appendage in front of her, and surprisingly, it returned the gesture. Then, the fairy began making other gestures, which Nisca repeated as best she could, even using her other appendages.
While Sasha played with the mycelium, Séraphine briefly activated her special vision, which enabled her to see that the trapped souls she had glimpsed earlier were now floating above Nisca, completely free.
Some of them seemed to be naturally entering the process of reincarnation. A few of them noticed the witch's gaze and nodded to her before finally departing.
Their fate would have been much more terrifying where they were, but seeing how Nisca allowed these women to find peace removed Séraphine's last bit of caution against this being and further fueled her anger against Howard Stone.
Séraphine deactivated her vision; she didn't need to see anything else. She brought her left hand to her lips, kissed her palm, and watched as the ether glowed upon contact, creating a blue heart.
The witch blew this energy construct toward the white mycelium covering the entire staircase. It fell gently onto the mycelium and dissolved. Then, Séraphine spoke these words from the depths of her being:
"Thank you for what you have done."