Maria opened the passage to the underground, she was nervous. He was waiting for her downstairs and the report she was going to make to him was very likely to displease him. The witch was still out there and Maria had no leads on where to find her.
She went down the stone staircase and as she approached, she felt more intensely the energy of her master. When she found herself facing him, she knelt respectfully, staring at the ground, afraid to cross his gaze.
She breathed deeply and began her report:
- Forgive me, master, I still haven't located the legendary witch...
He did not let her go further; he entered a state of rage like never before.
- Incapable! Do I need to remind you that the salvation of your soul depends on this mission? If you want to escape hell, you must find and eliminate her.
She knew it well, since the demon had invested her body, she knew she was condemned to more or less short term. She had been looking for a way to get rid of the demon for months without success. She was at the bottom of the pit; it was then that he appeared, in a blinding light, Draziel, the redemptive angel. He had offered her this witch hunt in exchange for the salvation of her soul.
She tried to justify herself for this failure but nothing seemed to be able to ease the fury of Draziel :
- I don't care about your excuses, this witch is a threat to the divine kingdom, and nothing can justify your failure. I'm wasting my time with you, maybe I should leave you to your fate and give this mission to someone else.
Maria was livid, if he abandoned her, she was doomed. She needed another chance, so she had no choice but to beg him at the risk of irritating him even more...
- No, I beg you, give me one last chance!
For the first time, she had raised her head, she looked at him, worried, looking for the least of his reactions.
He remained silent for a moment; he had a hard look and observed her with disdain. This aggressiveness contrasted with the first vision he offered when they first met. She had then seen him smiling, as if imbued with great kindness. He had fine features, impeccably combed blond hair, a carefully cut goatee and infinitely deep blue eyes. The cordial smile of their first meeting was now only a distant memory. Over the months, his expression had hardened, his mood had deteriorated. She felt that beyond anger, there was something deeper that she could not define.
- Fine, I'll give you one last chance, but remember, it'll be the last.
- What magnanimity!
This exclamation resonated in the room. The voice continued, reverberating on the walls:
- I have the impression that the legends about the goodness of angels are somewhat overrated.
They both turned to locate the origin of that voice.
Behind them, a mass of energy crackled, throwing red flashes through the room. And suddenly, from this mass of energy emerged a human form, a young woman whom Draziel immediately recognized: "The witch!”
A grin appeared on Maria's face. So this is the one she was looking for: Lilian, the legendary witch. Her immense energy was palpable, never had Maria felt such immense power. Even Draziel hadn't made such an impression on her. It was going to be a very tough game.
- Maria, take care of that devil, don't let her come near me...
She finally understood what was really behind the anger of the angel, it was fear... Lilian scared him to the utmost. The eagerness he displayed was only a reflection of his fear of seeing her one day before him. This revelation made her understand how powerful could be her opponent.
Lilian, on her side, was not quite happy of being called “devil” by Draziel and intended to let him know:
- Devil? Don't make me laugh, Draziel, what is my crime? You've been chasing me ever since I was a child, I can't count the number of murderers you've sent after me.
- Shut up, your sole birth makes you a sinner; your whore of a mother has caused more death and desolation than most demons!
Then, changing the interlocutor, he continued:
- Maria, get rid of her, her cursed existence has lasted too long!
Maria, stepped forward, facing the witch, took a deep breath and then rushed, she didn't really have a plan but she knew one thing, she had to strike quickly and hard, take the lead over her opponent, not give her time to prepare. A flame appeared in each of her hands. She would hit her hand to hand, so there would be no energy loss, the impact would be maximum.
On Lilian's face, a smile appeared briefly, this charge hardly impressed her. She closed her eyes and said:
- Stop!
Maria’s charge was abruptly stopped; rings of light encircled her elbows and knees, immobilizing her completely.
- No need to struggle, you're too weak to break this spell.
She was right, in her current state, it was impossible for her to free herself, but Maria still had an asset up in her sleeve and she intended to use it despite the risk it represented for her.
- Come to me, salamander.
With this simple invocation, a torrent of fire surrounded her, the flames sprang from each pore of her skin, igniting her clothes, her hair stood up, taking an orange-yellowish color, as if set on fire.
Thus transformed, she could use all the power of the salamander but now, her time was limited, the salamander would devour her from within until killing her unless she provided it with the blood and souls necessary to feed it...
The fight began, Lilian was the target of a real deluge of flames, she took refuge behind a shield of light, she watched her opponent, Waiting for the slightest opportunity to retaliate but the enemy fire was fed and she began to lose patience, she was not the type to remain on the defensive. While holding the shield she generated an energy sword in her left hand. The fireballs were raining, but it wouldn't stop her, in an instant she nullified the shield and hurled herself through the flames, avoiding as much as possible the projectiles and destroying the others with her sword. She approached until she was within attack range, Maria barely dodged Lilian's blade, it was her turn to suffer from the assaults of her opponent. She also had hand-to-hand fight skills, but against an armed opponent, she was clearly at a disadvantage. He had to restore the distance. She used a flame to blind her opponent and kicked her out. Then, taking advantage of this retrieved distance, Maria concentrated her energy in a huge fireball that she threw on Lilian.
The fire destroyed everything in its path, leaving only ashes and embers. Lilian seemed to have been literally burned to the ground. But she had no time to rejoice, her blood froze as she felt a presence behind her, then before she had time to turn around, she heard Lilian's voice whispering in her ear.
She immediately flipped and narrowly avoided the blade that fell on her, scratching her right cheek.
The attacks followed each other at a frantic pace, without letting her the time to react, they were not attacks intended to kill her, if Lilian had wanted to kill her, it would have been done long ago, no, Lilian played with her, exhausting her with numerous superficial wounds.
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