Growing up, Rael had heard and read a lot of stories. It had even gotten to a point once that was just borderline creepy.
In that phase of his life, he had completely shut himself off from the rest of the world and lost himself in stacks of manga.
A faint smile touched his lips briefly.
'Those days...'
Isekai...OP MC's...Cheats...Nocheats...weaktostrong...regressions...book transmigration...videogame transmigration...all of them and more.
The static lull of that part of his life was strangely... peaceful.
But then his smile turned sour as a certain memory surfaced in his mind.
An image of a girl with soft silver hair momentarily appeared before fading away from his mind.
'Kid, you know...there is a legend of seven great witches.'
'You're telling this one again? Don't you have any other stories?'
'Stop interrupting me, would you? Ahem, where was I? Yes, I remember! Somewhere far, far away where stars shone under rivers of green and trees had beautiful unblinking eyes, there were seven great beings living there.'
There was Astae'r, The Witch of Pride. A being with an ego the size of galaxies.
Validea, The Queen of Golden Creed. An entity whose greed spanned entire realities.
Mirona, The Path of Contempt. A being so utterly insufferable that her own shadow was driven away in fear.
Serinae, The Warden of the Abyss.
Lorea, The Break of Black Dawn.
And finally, the most beautiful and wisest of them all, Solstice, the One of Two.'
'Wait, that's six, isn't it? What about the seventh witch?'
'Ah...her...'
'Compared to the other six, the seventh could be said to be the most vile and revolting of them all. A creature so disgusting that even the others hated her.'
'Her name was...'
"Damn, I never thought me luck was so bad to meet you..."
Euphoria, The Sin of Lust.
***
As the veil fell away, the others finally saw where they were. They had made it to the surface, or maybe they had always been.
They were in some sort of cathedral, the high vaulted ceilings carved with red flowing lines, depicting several revolting images. The hall seemed to be built in a semicircle curving around the elevated altar. Black banners depicting an inverted bull skull with flames in it's hollow eyes draped down from the dark roof. Numerous thick black candles bled crimson wax where they were placed circling the altar.
The rattling of chains echoed softly somewhere above.
'Oh fuck.'
Dozens of cloaked bodies hung from the chains, their pale, bloodless bodies hanging from the roof by their necks. Their eyes were hollow yet filled with something resembling mad glee. Thin red threads of blood flowed from their bodies into a circular groove etched into the dark altar.
He heard Maki curse under her breath.
This place wasn't a holy place of sanctity. Not anymore.
It was a shrine to a demon on a throne of velvet.
And on that throne...
Suddenly, an indescribable feeling of terror gripped their hearts.
On that throne...was the embodiment of desire itself.
A crimson haze sat on a cracked throne of black stone. Beneath the fog was a silhouette of a...something beneath it. The shape was seemingly humanoid but they could feel it in the depths of their bones screaming.
That thing wasn't human. It emitted a vile aura of something dark, twisted and impossibly, inconceivably...wrong.
Rael cursed as he tried to cover his nose from the stench with his sleeve, smiling bitterly.
'So this is what demonic aura feels like. Damn, it's even worse than I heard.'
He could barely move in the presence of that being.
He looked at the others and his eyes widened as he heard the sound of steel dropping. He saw Dorm take a deep breath and his eyes grew a bit glassy.
"Star...flowers? I smell starflowers. Maira...is that you Maira? Maira!"
Rael panicked.
"Dorm, snap out of it! Dammit, everyone don't smell the air or look at the mist!"
The others clasped their free hands over their noses as they tried not to look at the figure.
But Dorm couldn't hear him. He rushed towards the mist on the throne, pushing Maki out of the way as his eyes grew wide and manic.
"Maira, you're alive! Maira!" He laughed and cried as he stretched his hand towards her.
The silhouette beneath the mist suddenly raised it's hand, seemingly reaching for him too. Rael thought he saw a hint of long golden locks obscured behind the mist.
The fog churned and blew towards his head.
SPLASH~
And his head imploded!
"DoOorRMmMMiInN~"
Suddenly, a sweet yet chilling voice escaped from the mist, echoing hollowly across the hall as the headless body crumpled to the ground with a dull thud.
"Lust of Hope. Lust of warmth. Lust of Peace.."
Rael felt something twist inside him at the sound of that voice. It saw smooth and sounded lovely, even joyous. Yet they all felt the pure, unfilteref evil residing in it's depths.
That voice wasn't speaking.
It was being spoken through.
The voice of his desires.
"
Suddenly, he felt the pressure intensify on his mind, causing him to feel a bit nauseous.
The spectre moved.
Slowly leaning forward as it rose from it's throne, the mist suddenly churned, being drawn back into the figure, revealing it's true form.
A beautiful figure clad in a crimson shroud emerged from the mist, it's edges drifting between silk and ethereal mist. The shroud shifted in the invisible breeze, exuding a strangely inviting yet dangerous presence. Long pink hair swayed beneath the shroud like a cape as she seemed to glide towards them. Her skin was a dark grey, glistening alluringly beneath the lights of the ominous candles.
Rael had to bite his tongue to stop himself from trying to reach for her...barely. It was as if every part of his body wanted nothing more than to embrace that being and...
'A mental attack.'
His eyes grew cold.
'I... have to w-warn th...othe...s' His thoughts were getting foggier.
Using all of his remaining willpower, he managed to turn towards the others, Maki hid Remis behind her body, one of her hands now covering the little girl's face while she covered her own face with the other, yet he could see her quivering slightly.
Len was standing beside him, her eyes turned down staring at the floor. A faint silver haze clung to her skin as it was being slowly enveloped by frost.
And Ema...
"Shit! Ema! What are you doing?!"
The girl was staring straight at the figure, blood slowly seeping down from her eyes. She gritted her teeth hard as she endured and stared defiantly at it as it descended the steps.
Soon it stood right in front of her.
"Why?" He heard her say through gritted teeth.
Rael's eyes widened.
"Why do you look like Alice?!"
He paled as he saw the ...creature smile as it touched it's own cheek in something resembling melancholy.
"Ah..."
It's smile slowly turned sinister.
"It was just too pretty, I couldn't resist."
"You monster!" She tried to stab at the figure but it easily evaded and simply grabbed her by the neck, swatting the blade away easily yet with enough force to nearly dislocate her wrist.
It's grip suddenly tightened as it grabbed her other hand.
It smiled darkly as it looked her in the eyes, causing more blood to spurt out.
"cAlLmePrEtTy."
"Y-you m... monster!"Ema gritted her teeth and spat at the figure, a drop of saliva mixed with blood landing on her cheek.
"oH?" It stopped smiling.
"Shit!"
"Then die, you ugly bitch!"
BANG-!
A dagger suddenly struck the the shroud, causing a loud clang to echo around the hall as it was deflected and fell to the ground.
Rael was not too far behind.
'Shit! Shit! Shit!'
Quickly drawing his blades, he rushed in despite the heavy mental pressure. Every step felt like he was dragging boulders and his mind was still being slightly influenced by the presence of the witch, but he managed to push through.
"I just need one good shot!"
Holding the sword in one hand and the second dagger in the other, he quickly ducked below the cloud of mist that tried to envelop him, it's shimmering surface just an inch above his face.
"Now!"
Suddenly, a torrent of water came pouring through, coming from one side of the hall. At the same time, a gale of freezing winds blew in from the other side, turning the floor into an uneven ice rink.
Launching himself upright using the dagger hand, he ran towards her with a focused expression on his face.
Right as he got into striking range, he suddenly lunged with the dagger and released it midway, causing it the shoot towards her. She shifted only slightly as it missed her entirely. Yet Rael grinned.
Twisting his body to the maximum, he crouched, allowing the momentum to carry him forward. She immediately lashed out with her sharp claws but he narrowly evaded and ducked under her guard. He swung the sword with all the force he could muster straight at her neck, hoping to decapitate her in one slash, or at least weaken her.
Right before the blade met her neck...the creature turned it's head.
And stared him in the eyes.
'Crap!'
Suddenly, the world went white.