Interlude: The Slurping Witch

 

 

 

Interlude: The Slurping Witch

 

AN endless expanse of white snow stretched out in every direction. Ground zero for Qualia’s Northern Witch Disturbance.

Saint Soalina of Blooming Burials silently stood with her eyes trained forward, as if she were waiting for something in this former prosperous mining town where not a single living soul was left. It was a ghost town. All of the buildings that had once been bastions of human activity had turned to rubble, and the deep piles of endlessly falling snow indicated that the breath of life had been extinguished.

Soalina solemnly gazed at the town where human life had ceased to be, the memory from her last pilgrimage there filling in the scenery that once was, along with the steadfast townspeople she’d seen desperately trying to eke out a living in this harsh land…

“……”

The silence was abruptly broken.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock. Clip-clop, clip-clop.”

The bell-like singing voice of a delicate young girl rang out through the frigid landscape. An impossibility; children didn’t belong in this place where all life had been lost.

Hearing that singing, Soalina scrunched up her beautiful face and tightened her hand around her Holy Staff.

“God doesn’t roll the dice ♪ There are no hopes or dreams ♪”

Soalina had never heard those lyrics before. Malice oozed from the singer’s words despite the lyrical tone. She dug through her memory for the potential origins of the song, but it didn’t bear any semblance to the songs she knew of.

“Life is just for killing time ♪ A board game made by God ♪ Die, die, die, let’s all have fun and die!”

As the singing grew louder, someone came into view at the other end of the street. The singer frolicked closer to Soalina as if she were going on a picnic on a lovely, sunny afternoon. When the untitled song ended, a lone girl took center stage in the snowy world devoid of life.

“Hiya, hiya, Sainty. Good to meet you, good to see you. How ya been?”

Saint Soalina quietly stared at the girl opposite her: Erakino, the Slurping Witch.

This girl was the apocalypse-bringer that plunged the northern province of Qualia into hell and claimed the lives of many people and Paladins. Her appearance could be summed up in a single word: quirky.

Adorned in an outfit unlike anything worn by the various tribes and races Soalina knew of, the girl’s face was painted in garish makeup like a pierrot’s in a wandering troupe of performers. Despite the strangeness of her outward appearance, Soalina was convinced the entity before her was an aspect of calamity itself. The child hid her cruelty under a thin veneer of “innocence,” not unlike the fantastical paints covering her face.

An unpleasant silence settled over them, and a nasty pair of eyes unreservedly sized Soalina up with an amused sneer. Soalina’s expression didn’t so much as twitch despite being exposed to the kind of eldritch gaze that would incite fear and panic in a normal person.

“Two months have passed since the last Divine Execution.”

Soalina’s quiet utterance disregarded Erakino’s greeting and came without context. It seemed less like she was speaking to Erakino and more like she was confirming the facts with herself. Erakino cackled without a care in the world despite being ignored. Soalina merely stared at Erakino, unbothered by her high-pitched laughter shattering the world of silent desolation around them.

“Kyahaha! It’s been two months, eh? That much time has gone by already? Wowee, does the time fly! I’m surprised too. Time is money, procrastination brings loss. I wonder if I’ve been wasteful?”

The way she spread her arms out wide in an exaggerated gesture of surprise seemed a lot like a pierrot’s opening act, especially with how the countless bells sewn to her clothing tinkled with abandon, adding emphasis to how she felt.

“Slurping Witch Erakino, as far as the records show, you have been divinely executed seventeen times. Each execution was successful, although accompanied by great sacrifices…”

Divine punishment carried out in the God of Qualia’s name was called a Divine Execution. Since it was done in God’s name, it was the ultimate punishment that didn’t allow for any mistakes. Confirming that each execution was successful meant confirming the absolute destruction and death of the executed.

Erakino had undergone execution seventeen times.

No mistakes ever occurred when doling out punishment in God’s name, and it was the way of the world that any living creature died when killed. Soalina had meted out several of those Divine Executions with her own hands and confirmed the termination of her opponent each time. Hence, this situation was a bizarre one and proof that the entity in front of her had deviated from the laws of nature established by God.

“Wahahahaha! S-Seventeen times! I can’t believe it’s been seventeen times! I die a little too much, LOL!”

Saint Soalina observed every move taken by the Witch, who was bent over with deranged laughter while shouting letters that made no sense. There was no question that the Witch before her was the same girl Soalina had slain many times before.

This wasn’t some cheap trick involving different people assuming her appearance, a sibling stepping into the role, or a magic duplicate. The greatest proof of this was Soalina’s extraordinary senses vividly informing her that the entity before her was indeed the one and same Witch who’d been killed two months ago.

The same Witch they had killed the time before that and the time before that… Witch Erakino had existed and died all seventeen times. She kept coming back no matter how many times they felled her. That was the nightmare known as Slurping Witch Erakino.

“Erakino…why don’t you die?” Saint Soalina frankly asked her opponent about the question that plagued her.

She naturally didn’t expect a decent response in return. The girl was likely to string a bunch of incomprehensible words together in that mentally unstable way of hers, as she usually did.

But Soalina had hope for something more to happen this time. They usually always went straight to fighting, but the Witch seemed much more talkative than usual. Due to the nature of their unique skills, the battle always leaned heavily in Soalina’s favor. So it seemed like Erakino was searching for a gap in her defenses that could lead to her victory, rather than foolishly rushing into a losing battle.

Soalina also preferred to gather as much information as possible to help her find a way to truly destroy this spawn of calamity rather than repeating the same old dull fight.

“Nah, Sainty. I die. A lot. You killed me seventeen times, right? Then I’ve died a whole seventeen times. Wowie, poor me.”

“Then how are you here…?”

“I’m…Freddy lite. But I guess you wouldn’t know that story! I mean, it’s totally old school! Kyahaha!”

What was so funny? Did she finally lose her marbles? Erakino roared with laughter as she held onto her stomach, tears in her eyes. She was obviously convulsing with laughter about something only she understood, but Soalina couldn’t even begin to fathom why, nor who or what this Freddy was.

And then her wild laughter stopped as suddenly as it had started. The girl with no logical reasoning behind her emotional ups and downs pursed her lips at Soalina.

“Hold up, aren’t ya a little too strong there, Sainty? I know I don’t look it, but I’m totally going for the strong girl thing here. So I’m hella unhappy that I’m practically decimated every single time I go at it with you. Is this, like, some kinda death event? Where’s a guide when you need one? Why do I have to go to fourteen every time? What’s the trick?”

Soalina didn’t understand a word she said, but she could guess the gist behind what she was trying to get at.

“Saints are the guardians of the innocent and the agents of divine punishment. There is no mercy left for an evil being like you, and lenience isn’t allowed when it comes to fulfilling our responsibilities.”

“The last Sainty had a doggie. How’s she doin’?”

The Veiled Saint was defeated by Erakino when she was about to perform the eleventh Divine Execution. Soalina had only heard vague details about what had happened. Someone was clearly withholding information. The Northern Assembly was divided on where the responsibility for it lay, but people worthlessly trying to push the blame onto someone else was the last thing Qualia needed right now. Hence, Soalina was dispatched to clean up the mess and was somehow managing to hold off the invasion.

Two towns were destroyed between the time the Veiled Saint was defeated and Soalina was asked to confront this great evil. It was foolish to try and count the number of lives lost. Seeking repentance from those she’d failed to save, Soalina shifted into a fighting stance with her Holy Staff. After all, her extrasensory perception as a Saint told her the conversation was over.

“You are trying to do something, Erakino. I still do not know what it is, but I see now that that power is your true identity.”

“Ah…” Erakino uttered with a blank look of surprise. “…This is why I just hate goody-two-shoes,” she sneered.

The innocent veneer slipped off, leaving a ghastly cruel smile that hinted at a hatred of all that lived.

The battle was about to begin.

“Well, shucks, you got me! Where are all my lovely Erakino supporters? It’s time to roll out the clowns. The main event is about to begin, it’s your time to shine!”

Several shadows appeared from behind the rubble in response to her call. Soalina wondered why she hadn’t sensed them until now, but then she frowned when she noticed they were the former inhabitants of this town.

The people’s skulls were cracked open like a coconut, and there was a hollow cavity where their brains should’ve been, as if they had been sucked out by something. Nevertheless, their dully-lit eyes honed in on Soalina with the hostile intent to kill her.

“You savage…”

“You can mock me all you like, but…I won’t let you mock my people!”

The people with their brains slurped out sluggishly began to move on cue with her words. They hobbled in Soalina’s precise direction while mumbling what sounded as incoherent as baby babbling. As they staggered out from the shadows, their numbers grew from a couple to a few hundred. Seeing those pitiful souls surrounding her, Soalina’s heart went out to all the lives that had been lost before she promptly set aside her emotions.

“Okay, babies, chaaaarge! You’ll never be yourself again after having your brains slurped anyway, so give her hell!” Erakino encouraged them in a chipper voice that didn’t fit the disturbing scene and snapped a whip she’d pulled out of only God knows where.

She snapped her whip at the same time Soalina was quietly whispering her prayers to God with her Holy Staff raised.

“Ye once innocent people, our Holy God Arlos forgives your sins for turning against His Saint and commands your souls be saved. Rest in peace. I entomb ye now in a blooming burial.”

“…Hot damn.”

The brain-slurped townspeople rushing in to kill Soalina were instantly reduced to ash by hellfire. Flames engulfed the snowy landscape, the deep piles of snow boiled away with the pitiful lost souls, and the explosive steam created a strong gust of wind.

The sudden windstorm caused Erakino to stumble, but she quickly regained her balance. And not a second too quick because Soalina’s powerful legs had brought her face to face with the Witch.

“Whoa, whoa! Down girl! Time out! Uncle! Uncle! Fine, take thiiiissss!”

Erakino swung her whip around and tried to do something with her strange abilities, but Soalina’s Holy Staff plunged through her stomach before she could finish whatever it was. The Saint’s overly enhanced strength easily scattered the Witch’s entrails, splattering lukewarm blood all over Soalina’s cheeks.

“Oomph! …Ah? Huh. Erakino is a goner with that hit. This is totally…a crapshoot…game… When do I get my new game plusss…?”

The Witch’s body crumpled on the ground, creating a pool of bright-red blood around her.

“The eighteenth death… This should buy us some time.”

Yet again, Soalina was unable to expose Erakino’s true ability. It was safe to say they were at a stalemate. At the very least, as long as she was able to keep Erakino at bay, the other towns wouldn’t experience any casualties at her hand. But she didn’t think it was wise to remain in this same place focused only on dealing with Erakino without working toward another solution.

The Saint, who was touted for being the harbinger of justice and peace, grit her teeth in secret as the prospects for a solution were slimmer than she’d hoped.

“We still don’t know anything about the potential apocalypse-bringer in the Accursed Lands. There has been absolutely no news from the Paladins who went to investigate… How many lives will be sacrificed in that land if it’s yet another Witch?”

Soalina gently rubbed her cold cheek. She scowled when she felt something sticky there, and it wasn’t until she brought her hand in front of her eyes that she realized it was Erakino’s blood.

Even the incarnation of calamity sheds red blood? Soalina heaved a tired sigh with that odd realization.

The nineteenth Erakino was bound to show up again soon. Soalina was still capable of subduing Witch Erakino, but the girl was definitely growing stronger with each defeat. If nothing was done about it, the difference in strength between them would be reversed, and the day would come when Soalina would fall before her foreign power.

That’s what the cunning Witch was going for. There weren’t many Saints with more effective means of dealing with Erakino than Soalina and her large-scale Divine Execution techniques.

Soalina had to uncover the secrets behind Erakino’s resurrection and kill her before that day came. Otherwise, Erakino would lay her wicked fingers on the Holy Capital, and she wouldn’t stop until she killed all the people of Qualia. And she would do it like a cruelly innocent child playing with their favorite toy until they broke it, exposing sinless lambs to her unfettered malice all the while. That and that alone was the one thing that must never be allowed.

Soalina became a Saint to stop such things.

“But I need to save them all.”

Flowers bloomed amid the burned terrain as if to send off the dead. A determination driven by regret filled the whisper that disappeared among the flowers blooming in the frigid land.

Only Erakino, who clung faintly to what little life she had left in her, cracked a heartless, unseen smile upon hearing her words.