The Maid and Her Princess

Don't Hold Back! (part 5)

V.

This definitely was the Witch, this time. Its true form. It was tall and elegant, with two legs and arms like her. Odd creaking noises and wet sloppy sounds worked their disgusting songs in Madoka's ears, bringing instant displeasure to the maid. Had they not been enemies at the moment, she would dunk this beast into a big tub of water to wash it immediately. Besides the black tar-like substance that coated its "skin," its flesh was twisted and woven tightly together like a straw basket. The being standing before her resembled nothing like a former goddess, but instead a grainy and undeniably corrupted fiend that had lost everything but power.

Madoka's hair rose on their ends as she watched the creature move its hands in an offensive stance and her inward cursing at it stopped. Unlike the impossibly long serpentine body it had apparently lived in, this being was only a few heads taller than her. The rest of the oozing black tar that covered it began to bury Audrey's prison. A growl escaped her as the monster's killing intent shot up, and it screamed a horrifying wretched wail in response. Now was not the time to be angry, even though everything inside of her wanted to tear it apart. The creature vanished from her sight with its godly speed. The artificial day above had fallen once into night, fogging up her vision, and its previous form walled off every escape with its sheer, inert size. So Madoka shut the world out and sharpened her senses.

The mystical warmth of her Crystal's shield wrapping around her returned when she focused.

The spray of dust disturbed by agile footsteps sent the smell of death in the air.

And then— tiny specks of crystalline thought-shards clinking together ever so faintly. Their soft chimes sifted through the barrier.

"Give up your Eyes," they sang to her.

"Fat chance!" Madoka countered with a swing the second her barrier distorted. Magnolia's clang matched another's sudden, yet equal strike. The attacker abandoned its path, dashing into obscurity once more.

Madoka felt the ground shift, but she stood in the new location with a single thought of her own.

"Hang in there, Audrey," she prayed and swung again, feeding more power into it. She channeled her fury into logic tracing the desperation in the Witch's movement, and her strike caught something— like an elusive prey now in her grasp. The enemy's body and screams were now skipping across the battlefield like a couple of tossed stones. Then, her shoulder roared to life when it detected another's suffering by her axe's mighty blade.

Madoka had forgotten about that rune. It had not revealed itself when she destroyed the Crimson Guardian, or even when she systematically destroyed the Witch's fleeing form segment by segment. The segments looked more like the tail of a serpent. She did not see Sovos shaped top half of Her body, the torso, which must have disintegrated somewhere beyond her vision. The look of its flattened face by her massive weapon of choice was still fresh in her mind, potentially because of the rune now burning her shoulder. It urged her to destroy the Witch, so her feet complied.

The creature, having recovered, charged once more with a strange blade like tentacle protruding from its arm like a blade. Madoka lunged in return. More exchanges occurred, but in the end both sides were slower than the start of the fight. She did not know if the Witch needed to breathe, but she did. The rune on her shoulder sent a rage through her from a lucky hit, igniting her wrath as she staggered to a halt. Steps in front of her quickened into another deadly lunge. The attacker's blade scraped the dirt and rubble with it, squealing and sniveling as it charged. Madoka was ready this time, and she delivered Magnolia's judgment straight into the creature's ribs.

I will crush you, now it was Madoka's turn to advance. Her steps cracked the ground as the crimson glow of her rune gleamed in tandem with her axe's malicious aura. You will die here in the Uracksheegal. She stood above the ashen Witch. The strange liquid coating its skin roiled, but could not hide the gash she managed to inflict. The Crystal barrier she had flickered off. She had to hurry up and finish this!