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SPLASH!
Anna opened the Elixir while in midair, as the golden, shiny liquid splashed over Annabelle's gigantic body all at once! Annabelle's large legs started stepping back, making the entire floor tremble. The hunters who were saved moments earlier glanced from the second floor of the abandoned mall, shocked at the scene.
It was as if Annabelle was melting alive! Her exoskeleton was slowly turning into a black sludge, and her body was beginning to fall apart. They never saw someone capable of neutralizing a near-S-rank threat in such a way.
They had already grown in great admiration for Kevin and Baihe, who were fighting so relentlessly. Yet once they saw Anna doing a literal miracle, they couldn't believe their eyes.
"Is it working?" Kevin asked. "Please, just work!"
"She's melting..." Baihe covered her mouth in horror.
The entire body of Annabelle melted into a black and purple liquid, as if she were dying an agonizing death. However, Anna glanced at the scene, completely concentrated.
"Annabelle! Don't lose against that demon; you're you! You're a girl! A normal girl!" She roared, trying to lift the spirits of the girl.
"A normal girl?! UUGH! AAAGH!" Annabelle cried, her entire body turning into liquid.
Within her mind, there were two wills fighting against one another for control over her body. While in her monstrous form, Annabelle's real mind found herself deep within a dark, obscure cave, covered in spiderwebs everywhere.
And in the center of that cave, her monstrous form, which had a will of its own, was taking control of her body, transforming it, and going mad with her own power. Although she had lost all hope when she ended up being forcefully transformed, she slowly started to hear Anna's voice.
"Annabelle… You're a normal girl!"
"A-Anna?"
Her silver eyes opened, glancing into the dark depths.
"You can do it!"
She slowly tried to move more.
"You're not a monster! Don't listen to your wicked brother! He's just insane!"
Annabelle's silver eyes slowly began to shine with a slight amount of light.
"You can do it! I know we've only met for a little while, but... You have to trust me!"
"Anna… Anna!"
"Please, come back! You don't deserve a bad ending!"
Annabelle continued hearing that voice, and as her arms kept tearing apart the spiderwebs wrapped around her, she began crawling over the cold cave's floor, and slowly yet steadily, she started moving away from them.
"I don't want to be a monster... I don't want to be a monster!" She continued muttering to herself. "I want to live a normal life!"
Tears began flowing from her eyes as she continued crawling, and finally, she stood up.
In front of her, a gigantic beast stood in her path.
"You are me! You are a monster, a Chimera!"
"No!"
"Accept… YOURSELF!"
"I WON'T!"
"Why?! You… I won't let you get out!"
The gigantic spider attempted to attack Annabelle with her gigantic claws, only for Annabelle to swiftly move forward. However, as much as it tried, the spider's attacks couldn't hurt her, as she kept walking forward. Her eyes stopped crying as she held a decisive glance.
"I won't let you control me anymore... Like Anna said, I am my own self!" Annabelle said, glancing back at the beast.
"No! STOP! NOOO!"
As she continued walking forward, Annabelle finally reached the light.
And her eyes opened anew.
Amidst the steam released, the small silhouette of a girl emerged within. She was completely naked, but it was really her, Annabelle!
[You have utilized the [Sanctification Elixir (S+ Rank)] on [Character: Annabelle]!]
[Her {Demonic Manifestation Transformation} has been completely neutralized, and she has gone back to her {Human} form.]
[The Status Effect: [Exorcized] has been inflicted upon [Character: Annabelle]
[For the next 7 Days, she won't be able to transform nor use Demonic Powers.]
"U-ugh…!" Annabelle groaned, gasping for air. "W-What…? What happened? I'm back? It… worked…"
"Annabelle!" Anna ran towards the young, silver-eyed girl and hugged her, even if she was naked. "You're back! It worked! Fuck that dumbass!"
"A-Anna?!" Annabelle was surprised, suddenly blushing like a tomato, as she was being hugged by her lifesaver. "Did you do this? You turned me back?"
"Yep! It took me a little while, but... it worked, thankfully." Anna smiled with a sigh of relief. She gave her a head pat.
Much like how she saved Baihe and Henrietta, she felt incredibly happy deep down that she was able to save these people from their terrible fates.
"A-Anna… Why? I tried to kill you, and now you're trying to help me..." Annabelle sighed. "Don't you hate me?"
"Why would I hate you? You're such an adorable girl." Anna giggled gently.
Annabelle suddenly felt her heart beating faster and faster, as she couldn't contain the embarrassment covering her face.
"You shouldn't be saying those things after what I did!" Annabelle cried, resting her face over Anna's chest.
However, she slowly raised her head, her face very close to Anna.
"But…" She muttered. "Thanks for believing in me."
"No problem!" Anna giggled. "Let's get along from now on, okay? I'll protect you from your brother."
"Anna…" Annabelle blushed a bit more. It felt like she skipped a beat once she heard Anna's words. Nobody had ever treated her like this before. "D-Do you happen to have a boyfriend or... a girlfriend?" Annabelle asked this question without even thinking.
"Eh? What about that question? I don't…" Anna said, tilting her head. "Why?"
"A-Ah! W-Well, I was just wondering, you're such a lovely girl I thought you would have…" Annabelle blushed while fidgeting with her hair. "How about we-"
"She's really back to normal!" Baihe said, stepping in and suddenly pushing Anna away from Annabelle with a slightly jealous stare at her. "But Anna, you should at least cover her; she's literally naked!"
"Yeah, what the heck? Where are her clothes?" Kevin wondered at their side.
The three girls then glanced at him and kicked him away.
"Stop looking, pervert!" They said it almost at the same time.
"E-Eh? What…?!" Kevin felt perplexed. "Okay, sorry!"
"Thankfully, I've got some extra changes of clothes here." Anna said, giving Annabelle some clothes.
"Jeans, huh? I'm used to dresses, but it's fine. Annabelle smiled. "A-Are these your clothes? Ah, did you use them before?!" She blushed.
"Oh yeah, why?" Anna asked.
"Uwaah… I-I'm using Anna's clothes…" Annabelle began sniffing the shirt.
Baihe couldn't tolerate this.
"Well, I've also worn her clothes before," Baihe said with a smile.
"Anyways, what's the deal with your brother?!" Kevin asked, interrupting the girl's moment. "And who are you really, Annabelle? What's even going on?"
"Well… That's hard to explain." Annabelle sighed.
"Kevin, you insensitive idiot, wait for us to get to a safe place before you start questioning her!" Anna reprimanded the blonde.
"E-Eh? What the hell? I was just trying to find out!" Kevin sighed.
Like that, the four managed to get out of the abandoned mall and swiftly made their way back to the entrance of the ruins, where Henrietta and a party of hunters, some really wounded, greeted them. Fenrir and the other hunters he rescued were there as well, all safe. Anna felt relieved deep down that they were able to save most of the people involved in this.
"Oh my god, Anna, Kevin! You're safe!" Henrietta ran towards Anna and her brother, hugging both of them tightly and lifting them up. "Are you okay?! Are there no injuries in your bodies?!"
"I-I'm fine… Ugh, but you're going to break me a rib if you keep hugging me so tightly, Henrietta!" Anna pouted.
"Yeah, big sis, I'm fine… Though tired… Ugh." Kevin muttered. "I'm relieved you're alright."
"O-Oh, ahahah… S-Sorry about that." Henrietta said, putting them down. "So a lot happened... I think we've managed to rescue almost every hunter we could. And we defeated a few Monsters, including a strange, demonic manifestation. We'll talk about that later, though. What about you guys?"
"More than we can just explain right away." Baihe sighed, looking at Annabelle.
"Huh? I remember you came with other clothes before." Henrietta said.
"…I lost them." Annabelle was bad at lying. "But Anna, let me have hers! The smell is so good."
"H-Huh… Alright then." Henrietta sighed. "I imagine you already saw the huge castle in the skies and the strange changes in the environment."
"Yeah, about that…" Anna said. "Can we talk privately?"
Like that, Anna was able to explain to Henrietta what happened after reaching the city and using a room in Henrietta's Guild Office. The kids explained everything, including Annabelle's transformation. Anna chose not to keep this a secret because she knew Kevin would say it sooner or later.
And well, because she knew Henrietta was a gentle-hearted woman who wouldn't discriminate against Annabelle because of that. But at the same time, Henrietta told her side of the story and how she and her group of Hunters entered a dungeon to eliminate the monsters and Demonite growing there and ended up fighting something.
The manifestation of a Death Apostle, just like them.
While Anna fought Bael, Henrietta fought someone called Agares, the Immoral King. And unlike Bael, Agares ended up being much weaker. Henrietta was able to dispose of him after destroying the towering crystal behind his throne, which seemed to be powering up his manifestation from emerging.
"However, before fading away, that demon said, "We will not rest until your world becomes ours"…" Henrietta sighed. "Ugh, are Demons really going to invade our world now? Ah, the castle in the sky is already... Well, it should be obvious enough with this, I suppose."
"Yeah…" Anna sighed. "The Ancient Death Apostles are tireless demons that will try anything they can to take over our world. We need to destroy that castle, which is most likely powering up their manifestations and the terraforming of our world into a new Demon Realm."
"So the castle is the key after all." Henrietta nodded. "And... the Dawn of a New World, you say? Annabelle is the brother of its leader."
"I-I didn't want to kill anybody." Annabelle sighed.
Henrietta's golden eyes looked into the girl's soul, and even while Gabriel was constantly telling her not to meddle in her affairs with a Demonic Beast like her, she didn't listen to his bickering. Because she could immediately tell this girl had a gentle heart, and she was being honest with her words as well.
"Don't worry, dear. We will protect you. It is our duty as Hunters to protect those in need." She said it heroically. "Your brother... is not someone we'll forgive so easily either. If he's the cultist behind the Apostle's manifestation, then he's our enemy."
"I know…" Annabelle sighed, looking down. She looked rather tired.
"Well, how about we go to my house by now?" Anna asked. "Big brother is already rushing out of the dungeon he went to explore, according to Fenrir."
"I see; it would indeed be better so Annabelle can rest." Henrietta nodded. "Alright, I'll hitch you guys a ride."
As the group walked outside the guild's office, however...
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, a gigantic tremor spread across the entire city.
"W-What is that?!"
"Look at the walls!"
"What in the world?!"
"No… Is that…?!"
The people started to panic on the streets as they pointed at a gigantic golem-like monster, made up of dozens of buildings put together with large, purple crystals growing all over its body. It was a massive Golem of over one hundred meters in height that was grasping the walls surrounding Stronghold and slowly beginning to crush them.
CRAAASH!
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