Dies Irae: Song To The Witch - Chapter 6 Witches Like It Hot

I can’t say I didn’t see this coming, but how the h.e.l.l are we going to get there!?

There were some worries as to the newly discovered location. For starters, it could only be reached via airplane, and the girls in question were unlikely to be able to board one.

You’re right, we need some sort of magical solution…

Beatrice put her expectations towards Rusalka, the witch among them, this time.

That’s a bit harder than you might think. Magic isn’t all-powerful, you know? If it was, I wouldn’t have any troubles at all in life, and the world would be moving towards a magic era instead of a science era… Wait, what if we use subsurface vessels? No, that’ll attract too much attention. Either it’ll put a huge target on our backs or we’ll end up cras.h.i.+ng right into something.

Obviously both will happen.

Beatrice withheld from giving any unwanted advice.

Between not using an airplane or somehow getting their hands on one, the two agreed on the latter option.

It was another busy night at the airport as Rusalka and Beatrice quietly walked about the runway. The airport had a very wartime-like vibe to it, and n.o.body stopped to think if the girls even belonged here or not. This place is actually an airport inside an American military base located near the outskirts of New York, civilian craft likely do not even land here.

This really feels like the calm before the storm. So nostalgic… Oh, Valkyrie, can you even fly today’s planes?

I only learned to fly them in a cla.s.sroom setting during the war, and that was mainly about biplanes and propellor-fitted planes.

Yeah, well I asked about these ones… Well whatever, we’ll just take one along with its pilot.

The two had decided to hijack an airplane. Military aircraft can at the very least take them somewhere close, so they should be able to move a certain distance with it.

Hey, look. How about that one?

Rusalka pointed to a medium-sized C-130 transport craft. This plane is able to fill the many transportational needs the American air force could possibly throw at it, and boasts great popularity.

That one isn’t very fast, nor stealthy…

Beatrice stated her honest opinion.

Hmmm… But it’s big and looks comfortable.

Are there really military airplanes designed with comfort in mind?

Perhaps this craft is intended to transport people of higher rank. Either way, its engine is already running and it is easy to board. The two approached the plane as the first step to their hijacking operation, but they were interrupted by a saber.

Why are you here!?

They probably had this one waiting for us. However chickens.h.i.+t they may be, they still have plenty of national power at their disposal.

Beatrice was astonished, but Rusalka remained calm. The eyepatched woman stood in front of the freighter, serving as its bodyguard, and stopped Rusalka and Beatrice. Or rather…

I can pa.s.s, right? I can see my invite from here.

The eyepatched woman gestured that Rusalka could pa.s.s, and stopped only Beatrice. As she created some distance between them, it would seem she really wants to settle things for once and for all here. Beatrice said nothing and accepted her challenge.

Go without me, I’ll catch up somehow.

There is also a chance the plane will not even take off unless they do what the eyepatched woman indicates.

It’ll be pretty lonely for me, but I get it… Oh, and you know about that blade of hers, right?

Yeah, I’m pretty up to date on its origin. I’ve seen her techniques before and I already have countermeasures.

Beatrice had been focusing solely on her sword techniques, and as a result, she remembered something important. It was way back during the war, about an old mysterious style from j.a.pan that she discussed with a j.a.panese blacksmith. It appeared to be a technique that would allow the wielder to freeze their opponent’s body for a small window of time. Its original user was said to have been unbeatable, until one day he blinded himself by accident and lost.

If this story is true, then the disrupting feeling the eyepatched woman causes to her could possibly also be avoided using this method. The key to her technique probably lies in her eyes, in the pupils that are drawn onto her eyepatch.

Hold up, did you just say “countermeasures”? That’s the wrong approach…

So why did Rusalka disapprove of her plan without even knowing what it is?

Huh?

Did you remember the order the Divine Vessel gave to us?

Make yourselves known.

There is no way she would forget this order that she had heard even from her true commander.

So why bother coming up humanlike tricks? You ought to provide a victory not as a knight, but as a demon. Crush them with overwhelming power.

Beatrice was at a loss for words when she heard this. That’s right, she definitely did put a lot of effort into her new plans and skills, but what she has to show the rest of the world is not her skills as a knight, but her demonic powers. Her one-on-one with the hardworking eyepatched woman had made her remember her younger self once more.

That is why she trained herself in return, so that she could match the eyepatched woman in diligence and training.

That one there gets like a measly 30% at best, a failing score. You get more than a pa.s.sing score, though, without getting into the details. So please do use that overwhelming power of yours.

Having said what she wanted to say, Rusalka finally boarded the plane. Beatrice watched it take off, leaving her alone with the eyepatched woman. She could feel even deeper refinement, and even excitement, simply from the eyepatched woman’s stance. The adrenaline she feels whenever they fight was probably mutual.

But Beatrice was about to mercilessly step all over her excitement.

War es so schmhlich,Forgive me, for I have sinned

Beatrice sang, but not to her opponent, to herself. Thinking, no, remembering her circ.u.mstances and her beloved superior.

ihm innig vertraut-trotzt’ich deinem Gebot.borne of loyalty, your will I once defied

Wohl taugte dir nicht die tr’ge Maid,Forgive me, for I am naught but a fool, never your equal

Neither her faith nor her song was aimed at the person in front of her. With such intense emotions, how disrespectful could one possibly get?

auf dein Gebot entbrenne ein Feuer;let your crimson pyres have their fill

But there are no burning pyres here, only lightning.

Her vocal solo did not last long.

Beri’ahCreation figment

Donner totentanzOn lightning I dance – Walkre!For I am Valkyrie!

It was a cold aria.

The light that Beatrice and her sword of the Valkyrie eminated, lit up the dull airport. In a warzone covered in blood, smoke and darkness, Beatrice wants to be the light that illuminates and guides her comrades. Such is her pure and honest desire.

The moment Beatrice moved, the eyepatched woman’s head had already come off.

This was the first time the eyepatched woman showed astonishment. Before she even had a chance to feel pain, Beatrice had already pa.s.sed her. She is now lightning. Being light itself, no human can catch up to her, and no blade can pierce her body. No measly techniques or disturbing feelings can stop her now.

The eyepatched woman’s eyepatch came off, and she stared at Beatrice with her true eyes that laid below. The large veins that covered her large eye spat out blood, and her pupil and lens s.h.i.+vered. But most remarkably, she only had one eye. Her single eye now dealt even more pressure to Beatrice than ever before. Whatever her pupil birthed had been the source of her power all along.

But unfortunately, she could not rely on it fast enough. The blade of lightning broke her saber, cleaved her torso and blew her head off.

You- mon- ster…

It was unclear if she outed these words before or after she lost her head.

Beatrice sheathed her blade, her body returned from thunder back to normal. She felt as if the eyepatched woman’s eye was still gazing at her even now, was she born with that eye or did she acquire it later? Was her power truly magic, or perhaps psychokinesis, or perhaps telepathy? We may never know. With her eyepatch off, her face is now fully visible, the woman had dark brown skin, probably Indian.

I believe that outfit and weapon were used during the American Indian Wars. Just from the design of the weapon and the souls it carries, you can tell it’s a pretty big deal.

Rusalka’s words resounded in Beatrice’s head. The American Indian Wars refer to the conquest of America’s native people by the hands of white settlers. Many Indians met their ends during these conflicts. The eyepatched woman had been using the weapon that was used to kill her ancestors, how many terrible curses did that carry with it? She likely figured such a curse to be a means to catch up to Beatrice, but what we know for sure is that she went to h.e.l.l and back to try and reach Beatrice, that her bouts with Beatrice awakened her sense of joy as a knight and that Beatrice, with her overwhelming power, grinded it all to dust. The power she had always wanted to use to guide her comrades to the light, could not even grant hope to a single soldier. In fact, it only helped to induce despair instead.

Having destroyed her enemy, Beatrice began absorbing her souls. They were surprisingly few, but more than enough to compensate the ones she had burned up until now. It was now that the part of her that was still human, that part that had been faintly slumbering, would start to rot away. To Beatrice, this overwhelming victory was in fact more despairing that any defeat could be.

A quiet sky, with only the low pitched sound of the C-130’s engines roaring about.

Not bad for a transport craft, but it still does sway a bit in the wind. The stewardesses here are a joke too, maybe I should’ve taken a private jet instead…

This loudmouth was Rusalka, sitting in one of the plane’s seats. Surrounded by a bunch of freaks ready to strike at any time, but looking as if they just came back from a carnival festival. The faint smell of magic power and curses gave off an oddly comfortable vibe. This eccentric sense of fas.h.i.+on is probably their image of a true witch.

But this is all just for show. Even if their boss appears to be the real thing, simply playing dress up does not make you a good actress. Even if your face is completely scorched, or if you hold marionette strings, it remains meaningless. Their misunderstanding of what a witch really is, is more entertaining than it is truly upsetting.

You can just listen to what I have to say, no need to respond. I’ll explain to you one aspect of what it means to be a witch.

There is plenty of time to waste, anyway. Why not lecture them? Rusalka is very generous.

There is always a reason why someone became a witch. I’m so jealous ’cause she’s so rich! Let’s destroy her reputation because she’s so beautiful! As long as you convince people she’s a witch, it’s easy to ostracize her! Hey, isn’t that odd? It’s like magic.

Hundreds of years ago, Rusalka, too, was once a normal girl. But one day she was made out to be a witch. This label was thrust onto her by the jealous women of her village, who envied her beauty that even Monroe and Lisa could not match. Rusalka’s counterarguments turned on deaf ears, and even her husband abandoned her.

Now, the part where I actually became a witch is another story. If I really was a witch at the time, I’d have died along with the other victims of the witch hunt. Identifying as a witch is nothing to be happy about.

The person who turned Rusalka’s destiny around, when she should have been burned at the stake at the summit of endless disgrace and s.e.xual a.s.sault, was a mysterious figure who claimed to be a confessor. She would receive true magic powers from him and ma.s.sacre the village people with them. That is when Rusalka became a true witch.

“Witch” is a t.i.tle for someone who shoulders that envy, the burden and the curse, without a trace of shame. Now, don’t you think it’s a little ridiculous to pretend to be one as a fas.h.i.+on statement? It’s embara.s.sing, you girls probably don’t even realize how silly you look. A blessed witch? Actually thinking you’re any kind of blessed and then acting like a bully is just the peak of stupidity.

From Rusalka’s point of view, these witches are simply a humorous existance. With power they themselves attained, they do not rebel, they do not act as they please, they simply want to please the person who exploits them and steps all over them, and they are okay with that. A blessed and satisfied witch is nothing but a joke.

The witches did not respond to Rusalka’s grave remark, Rusalka could only sense their anger. It was then that the lights inside the airplane were extinguished. The plane’s windows shut, and the inside was now covered in jet black darkness.

Hey wait! What am I supposed to do now!?

Rusalka uttered the same kind of line she did when she was in a pinch before. Her man-eating shadows and Creation Figment both make use of actual shadows, where there is light, there are also shadows. Which is why most of Rusalka’s power becomes effectively sealed when she is in complete darkness like this. With her vision completely blocked, all she can feel is the murderous intent around her.

Just kidding…

She may have done research after her encounter with them last time. Either way, it is beyond stupid to think she would not have a counterplan the second time around. The ceiling of the plane came off, and one of the witches standing close by was sucked right out. What came and entered the plane through the newly opened hole was none other than the executioner, wearing a strange mask.

Babylon, how was the trip by air?

Rusalka spoke to Lisa, who was held in one of the executioner’s arms. The starry night sky fainly lit up the inside of the plane again, and with the newly opened hole, the atmosphere inside the plane started to change and its course started to s.h.i.+ft. This new atmosphere, along with the hole that was still sucking people out of the plane, felt like nothing more than a breeze to Rusalka and Lisa.

Right. Even if it’s an outdoor spot, and knowing I’d be fine in places normal people can’t be, I’ve learned that it’s more comfortable on designated pa.s.senger seats.

Yeah, sorry about flying first cla.s.s all by myself…

Lisa had changed from her sister’s outfit to her SS-uniform and was not wearing her gla.s.ses anymore. Where Rusalka wore no sleeves, Lisa had a long slit. As far as the quality of their uniforms is concerned, they were both top cla.s.s.

So what’s up with that body?

It’s the best I could get my hands on.

She does not compare to the one who normally gets to wear the mask, but considering Rusalka left her a corpse like this and there was nothing else suitable, she went with it. Rusalka was also in full charge of the operation, so she was in no place to speak up. The mask that the executioner wears is Lisa’s own Ahnenerbe: The Pale Mask of DeathPalinda Mors. By forcing it on a corpse, Lisa can take full command over it. This Ahnenerbe is not one from history, it is Lisa’s own relic that she created using multiple layers of dead infant skin. It represents her continuous love for babies and is her personal relic.

The executioner served as Lisa’s puppet, and held its already-rotting axe in its hand, running rampant. Neither pain, damage, nor otherwise crippling attacks worked on it. Right now, she is at an even greater rampage than when she was alive. Around half of the witches had been fighting back, but the rest seemed to be too scared of the cras.h.i.+ng airplane and cowered in fear. The executioner crushed them without prejudice.

I can’t take control of it!

That is what one of the witches holding marionette strings yelled, before having her head smashed in by the executioner. She appeared to have a similar role to Lisa’s, controlling the dead with her strings. If that is the case, then surely she would also have a copycat around. The executioner was. .h.i.t with a small vial, the liquid inside covered not only her, but also Lisa, who stood nearby.

I can just scorch everything… Everything…

Flames appeared from the hands of a walking third degree burn wound covered in bandages, or one of the witches. The flammable liquid from before caught fire, and started covering the executioner and Lisa in flames.

Wait, YOU’re supposed to be her!?

Ha!?

The burned remained calm and the burner panicked. Lisa was on fire and moved not even a single step, she remained calm and displayed only animosity. And it was deep, it was deep and dark like an endless ocean. This was the way she tried to copy Eleonore? To Lisa, who had been her rival since she was young, this was nothing less than an insult. The one silver lining here to the witch was that Beatrice was not present. If there had been a layer of killing intent on top of this deep animosity, her heart probably would have stopped on its own. On the subject of what exactly she lacked; it was not the power of her flames, it was her head. It was her inability to understand that fire is light that takes a certain form.

If all it takes is summoning a little fire, then anyone with a match can be Lord Samiel.

Rusalka became impatient and brought out her man-eating shadows, devouring the surviving witches, leaving none alive.

Go now.

At Lisa’s command, the still-burning executioner bashed into the arsonist responsible. At every move, the executioner’s flesh burned and fell off, it had started to produce a strong smell.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

The witch who played Eleonore, who did not know her place until the very end, let out a scream Eleonore would definitely never make, and was crushed against the wall by the hands of the executioner. By the power of the fire and the executioner’s strength, a new hole came about in the side of the airplane.

Oh. Gotta be careful…

The moment the two burning bodies fell out of the plane, Rusalka grabbed the Pale Mask of DeathPalinda Mors from the executioner’s head. The two tumbled out of the side of the plane and to their deaths. With a second hole, the C-130 had now finally reached the limits of its ability to fly.

What do we do? Jump?

Lisa asked, taking the mask back from Rusalka.

I guess. Let’s jump right before it hits the ground.

Rusalka looked outside through the new hole. All she could see was water, so jumping out now would be too early. No, only just barely too early, in fact. Looking ahead, Rusalka could see their destination approaching.

The C-130 crashed onto the beach, crus.h.i.+ng itself in the process. It started blazing, and the fire did not appear to stop any time soon. The smoke flew up into the sky almost like a beacon.

Maybe we jumped too soon…

Better than too late…

Lisa was soaked and Rusalka was covered in sand. Drying your hair and clothes and getting rid of all the sand is probably about equally bothersome.

Well, I’m off again, what about you?

I’ll take some rest. I don’t think I’m useful anymore.

There were no usable corpses left anymore. There might have been some good ones left inside the C-130, but those are unsalvagable now.

I guess that’s fine.

Rusalka immediately approved her proposal. Her legs were already moving towards a mansion in the distance. There was something weird going on, though… Was it really in-character for her to be going up against an army by herself? Against the enemies up ahead, she won’t have an absolute invulnerability mode anymore.

Oh yeah. This island might get covered with corpses soon, so when that time comes, be sure to come help out! After all, you’re good at controlling like a bunch of corpses at once, right?

Having said that, Rusalka left Lisa behind. Looking in the opposite direction, Lisa could see military wars.h.i.+ps and aircraft using her vision enhanced by Ewigkeit. This territory has been completely blocked by the United States Navy. Soviet vessels could also be seen loitering around the blockade. In this land, the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union are reaching a critical point. This is America’s neighbouring communist nation: Cuba. Because the Soviet Union had planned to station nuclear missiles here, the United States set up a naval blockade. If a third world war were to begin, this would be the start of it.

What’s more, being a communist nation close to the United States, it would create a huge advantage if the United States and Soviet Union joined forces behind the scenes. It is easy for either nation to transport troops and weapons here, and against their common enemy, the Longinus Dreizehn Orden, this would make for a suitable base of operations.

Even still…

Lisa pondered the intentions of the wars.h.i.+ps and aircraft. It is too quiet, even if the C-130 that had just crashed had been an exceptional case, so far there has been absolutely no response, despite the wreckage. Even if they cannot come ash.o.r.e, at least some sort of reaction would be expected.

Almost as if they knew a plane would crash here…

What if they’re not watching out for nuclear missiles or enemy troops, but…

…us? The Longinus Dreizehn Orden? What if the story about nuclear missiles being stationed on Cuba is another diversion, and the United States and Soviet Union are actually teaming up to get rid of the Obsidian Round Table? Perhaps we had more enemies than we thought in these countries where people are getting more and more anxious by the day. Or perhaps they simply fear the witches who have set up their headquarters on this island?

Right now the world fears women.

The overwhelming silence coming from these naval wars.h.i.+ps would make one believe such a preposterous story.