(Part 4 Ding Dong the Witch is... Dead?)

Book1, Volume 5

Chapter 49

Following Wylla's lead, Syl stepped out from the left side of the Pillar, aiming as well and shouted, “Bloodrose Bloodthorn Harpoon!” A bloodrose headed serpenvine burst out of Syl's palm, heading straight towards a large mouth-tipped tentacle of the Cauldron Kraken as a bloodthorn spearhead sprouted forth from the petals of the bloodrose.

“SKREECH!” The cauldron beast cried out as two of its tentacles were pierced. Wylla and Syl grabbed onto their serpenvines with both of their hands and together, gave a great pull.

The Kraken was yanked hard towards the two armored girls as the serpenvines snapped taut causing the big burning hot cauldron containing it to greatly tip. Feeling that its 'house' was about to tip over, the Kraken's tentacles slapped the hard dirt ground causing little puffs of dust and dirt to rise into the air. Pushing hard off the ground, the cauldron rocked back as its eyeball tentacles sent a volley of Bloody Void Orbs at Wylla and Syl.

The girls sidestepped the semi-fast orbs, moving forward, causing the serpenvines taut hold to slacken, sending the cauldron rolling back... back... bumping into the crouching Witch and sending her out of hiding. The tentacles once again hit the ground stopping the cauldron's tipping momentum and pushed hard, sending it rocking back towards Wylla and Syl.

Happy that things were going as planned, the girls took advantage of the shift of movement, rushing back quickly and making the serpenvine lines go taut once again... and then gave a great tug; Their muscles flexing and teeth clenching as they pulled with all they had.

The cauldron's top came rushing towards the ground; The Kraken “SKREECH!” sending its large mouth-tipped tentacles slamming towards the ground, trying to stop the cauldron from tipping over onto its side as dark sludge splashed onto the ground. The green witchfire in the pit flared as the Witch sent a Miasma Rosebud Bolt hurling towards Wylla, but it was too late.

Just as the dark misty rosebud slammed into Wylla's shoulder causing her to grunt and grit her teeth, the cauldron tipped over onto its side with a 'gongongong' sound. Taking advantage of the situation, Wylla's and Syl's feet dug deep into the ground as they pulled hard, trying to drag the Kraken out of its cauldron shell.

The Kraken didn't want this... it most definitely didn't want to be pulled out of its protective home that had been filled with that wonderful alchemic slurry but it was losing the struggle as its quivering squid-like body was being pulled out; Desperate, it sent all 5 of its large mouth-tipped tentacles to wrap around the cauldron, to pull itself back in, only to realize too late just how hot the lower half of the outside of the cauldron was “SKREECH!”

With tentacles sizzling, the Kraken quickly let go of the cauldron as the tainted scent of cooked calamari filled the air; Slightly smoking tentacles flailed wildly about in the air looking for something to grab hold of only to be hit by the Witch's Miasma Rosebud Bolt which had just been sent flying towards Wylla.

A breath or two later, the Kraken's body finally popped out of the cauldron and was dragged, kicking and screeching, over 15 yards away, coming to a stop near the Witch's hut. A gleeful Syl jumped high into the air, using the serpenvine to pull herself through the air, landing right in front of the panicking Kraken, sending a spray of dirt and dust into its eyeballs.

Taking advantage of the Kraken's vulnerable state, Syl's bloodrose tipped tail whipped forward streaking towards one of the dark blood-red glowing eyeballs leaving a trail of afterimages in the air; Her bloodthorn stinger sprouted out of the center of the bloodrose bulb near the tip of her tail and pierced the eyeball tentacle's pupil bursting it open like a water balloon as its foul fluids splattered onto the ground "SKREECH!"

Michael spotted the Witch standing behind the now empty cauldron with a confused and hate-filled look on her face.

The Witch looked around, seeing these two new powerful-looking draic warriors dragging her beast away. Her eyes jolted left and right, searching; A confused look growing on her face... Did that cursed little butterfly brat call for help and run away to join the Spriggankin in their march into the village? Just where is she? Ack, no time for that! The Witch thought to herself.

The Witch furrowed her brows, a look of resignation painted her face as the much too beautiful draic warrioress headed her way. She quickly retrieved 'the vial' from her pouch; The vial holding her latest alchemic creation. Popping open the cork, she pinched her nose closed blocking the foul scent emanating out of the vial and drank deeply.

The empty vial hit the ground as the Witch's bones popped and limbs lengthened; Her flesh began to undulate, and her body grew. Muscles rippled and blood-red thorn claws protracted. The back of her head elongated, parting her evergreen dreadlocks like a curtain, as a large Bloodrose bulb made its appearance. Thorns grew out from here and there giving her body a deadly appearance.

Even her Roseblood Staff changed into a dark wicked-looking bloodthorn tipped assegai spear!

Standing before Michael was no longer the small physically weak Bloodrose Witch... no, she was now gone. Now standing before him was a bestial albino Bloodrose 'Ganglyrot-like' Witch wielding a long Bloodrose Assegai Spear.

"Tch! It looks like she's grown past her Dr. Moreau phase and entered her Dr. Jekyll phase. Either way Ms. Hyde... you won't win!” Michael charged at the new Gangly Witch, his right hand grabbing hold of the rod that was using its long tendrils to wrap around his waist to hold it in place.

“ROAR!” The Gangly Witch lifted up her spear and brought it slashing down in an arc towards Michael's head. Michael quickly stepped in close near the Gangly Witch's body, holding his left arm up; WHACK! The dark wood shaft near the long bloodthorn spearhead slammed into the back of Michael's forearm causing his arm to jolt down a bit from the impact as his Syldrake scales vibrated, blocking much of the damage.

A split second later, Michael's rod slammed into the unprotected and wide open ribs of the Gangly Witch as the spidery lotus flower bit into her flesh! “AIEEGH!” The Gangly Witch's feet skidded to the left sending a small spray of dirt and dust into the air. Hissing, the Gangly Witch slammed the heel of her spear into the ground as dark energy slithered towards Michael.

Michael sidestepped to the right of the Gangly Witch as bloodrose headed serpenvines burst out of the ground seeking to pierce his legs. The first two missed, but without his Butterfly Wings he wasn't fast enough to dodge the last two as one bit into his exposed thigh and the other tried biting into his scale-covered calf, both wrapping around his legs to hold him in place.

Taking advantage of the bindings, the Gangly Witch moved back out of Michael's reach but stayed within her thrusting spear's range. Michael gritted his teeth and shouted out, “Dire Syldrake Guardian!” The energy in his body quickly built up and fed into his scales as they grew, covering all of his body, increasing their toughness; Spikes emerged here and there giving him a wicked dragon knight appearance as the Gangly Witch's spear came thrusting towards his chest.

He moved his upper body to his right, twisting at the waist as his rod hit the shaft of the spear, changing its trajectory, causing it to go past his left side as it scraped against his scaled ribs.

Meanwhile, as Michael was using his new armored body to block and guard against the Gangly Witch's spear attacks, Syl was busy piercing and destroying another of the Kraken's eyeball tentacles with her Noctis Bloodrose Tailsting. The Kraken screeched in anger as its third eyestalk was destroyed. Just two to go! Syl thought with a glint in her eyes and a wicked little smile on her blood-red lips.

Angry, and in pain, the Kraken braced itself with a large mouth-tipped tentacle pressed down against the ground on each side of its body while attacking with the other three and its two remaining eyeball stalks.

Syl used her armored covered arms and legs to block what she couldn't dodge in the small space between the Kraken's thrashing tentacles. Her Sylvern scales were still in great shape; Even after all the pounding as she continued to block the Kraken's hammering blows while waiting for another opening to strike back with her eyeball bursting tailsting.

She glanced up and noticed that her 3 bars were over half-filled; She still had plenty of health, energy, and stamina to keep fighting. Only the flesh beneath her scales was damaged, being a bit bruised here and there; But if it wasn't for the fact that she got lucky and received the very enviable bonus attribute of toughness the damage to her body would have been far worse.

Growing frustrated, the Kraken sent large mouth-tipped tentacles slamming down towards her from above on both sides of her body. Syl shifted into a horse stance and lifted her arms up, catching one downward slamming tentacle in each hand with a soft grunt as her feet dug into the ground and her body bounced downwards a couple of inches.

Seeing its chance, the Kraken swept its third mouth-tipped tentacle towards her, low to the ground, looking to take out her legs as its remaining eyeball tentacles sent a pair of Bloody Void Orbs towards her body.

Sensing danger, Syl followed her instincts as her tail slapped the ground and pushed off hard as she jumped; Her Bloodthorn Claws protracted, biting in deep into the tentacles flesh, securing her hold, as she used them like parallel high bars.

The low sweeping tentacle swept by just missing her legs and the pair of Bloody Void Orbs hit nothing but air as Syl hung upside down in a handstand; Her back arced, arm muscles twitching, and her eyes focused on one of the remaining eyestalks as her tail whipped downwards fast as lightning, bursting open another eyeball.

“SKREECH!” The Kraken flailed its tentacles in pain causing Syl to lose her balance and sending her falling towards the ground.

“Ouch!” Syl complained as she hit the ground. Sensing danger, she quickly rolled out of the Kraken's reach as tentacles pounded the ground behind her, barely missing by mere inches.

“Ahahaha... This is fun!” Syl said as she got back on her feet and dusted herself off. “It's kind of like popping balloons with darts at a carnival, only 'funner'... Just 1 eyeball to go... hope I get a good prize!”

Rubbing her arms and legs, Syl turned towards the Kraken as it slapped the ground with its tentacles, slowly pulling itself towards her. “Ah, it looks like your maneuverability on land is shi... umm... bad.” Syl sidestepped as a lone Bloody Void Orb flew past. She then ran around to the backside of the Kraken, pulling a Healing Nectar fruit out of her borrowed belly pouch.

Keeping an eye on the Kraken as it slowly turned its body towards her, she bit into the top of the fruit, then tilted it up and drank the delicious honey-sweet nectar within; The silky liquid went down her throat and into the pit of her stomach as warm tingling pulses of energy flooded her body, melting away the aches and pains as her wounds and bruises healed.

Feeling revived and refreshed, she dodged another Bloody Void Orb. “Just about all your range attacks are gone and you're so very slow on land! Since that's the case, let's do this the easy way!”

Syl ran to the right of the beast, bending down to pick up a discarded wooden spear off the ground, and began to dance around the Kraken in circles, thrusting and piercing with both Tailsting and spear as screeches filled the night.

Huffing, the Gangly Witch once again thrust her spear, feinting low but going high as Michael, with knees bent, pretended to fall for her feint; The spear came streaking towards his throat, he leaned right, stood straight up moving his left arm up in an arc and then back down, bending at the elbow.

The spearhead scrapped along the side of his scaled chest passing underneath his armpit as his arm clamped down, trapping the spear shaft between his arm and side. Using his left hand, he grabbed hold of the spear's thorny shaft while bringing his rod slamming down with his right hand, pounding the Gangly Witch's hand nearest him holding the spear: “WHACK!”

“AIEEK!” The Gangly Witch screamed, letting go of the spear and shaking her battered hand in the air she quickly backpedaled out of reach.

Michael, with the spear in hand and trapped with his upper body, twisted and turned his body left while leaning away, ripping the spear out of the Gangly Witch's one-handed grip.

As much a Michael wanted to use the now liberated Bloodrose Assegai spear he knew better than to do so. After all, the last time he got a hold of the Witch's grimoire it ended up attacking him. And he didn't want that to happen to him again with the spear so he tossed the spear behind him as the bloodrose serpenvine chains binding him in place released and returned to the ground.

“Alright, let's do this... mano al mano,” Michael said, feeling good and smiling. He put his rod away as it wrapped itself around his waist and stepped towards the Gangly Witch.

The Gangly Witch stepped forward to meet him, sending a slash with her poisoned claws from up high to low. Michael didn't retreat, instead, he did as he learned from sensei and stepped forward lifting his left arm, using the armored Syldrake scales on the back of his forearm to block the Witch's downward slash.

KRSH! Sparks flew and a sound like nails on chalkboard resounded. The Witch's claws scraped against his scales but could not break through as her body's momentum continued forward... which was what Michael wanted.

Michael stepped into her guard, lowering his center of gravity as his right hand parried her left claw slash. He quickly slapped his hand down onto her shoulder, his claws biting into flesh and muscle securing their hold.

With his left hand on her right biceps and his right hand on her left shoulder controlling her body, Michael used the Gangly Witch's forward movement against her, twisting his body and flipping her over causing her to scream “AIYEE!” as her Heaven and Earth reversed in less than a second.

“WHAM!” The Gangly Witch landed painfully on her back; The jarring impact knocking the wind out of her lungs. Gasping and coughing the Gangly Witch's left hand made its way towards one of her pouches but Michael wasn't about to wait for her to recover.

“No you don't!” Michael slammed his knee down on her stomach.

“OOMPH!” The Witch's upper body lifted up into the air only to be brought back down as Michael's left hand slammed into her wounded shoulder, shoving her down hard onto the ground and holding her there.

He then lifted his right arm up high, his bloodthorn claws glistening in the night, and brought down a powerful palm strike onto the center of the Gangly Witch's chest “WHAP!” “GAH!” The Gangly Witch cried out. With his Bloodthorn Claws glowing red, he raked downwards, biting into the Gangly Witch's flesh and leaving behind gashing trails as little streams of healing warmth entered Michael's body.

The Witch's hand fell limply onto the ground, no longer moving towards her pouches. Her eyes dimmed as she stared at Michael and then widened, turning hate-filled as Michael changed forms right before her into that vile little butterfly girl! “ARIEEGH!!!”

Smirking, Michael brought his hand down above the Witch's chest and just couldn't resist saying it... “Hasta La Vista!” His hand lit up with energy, the SnapDragon roared, slamming into the Gangly Witch's chest! The Gangly Witch's blood-red eyes turned milky and dark as her body stilled, becoming pallid gray in color as her mortal life ended.

[ ding! ]

“Yay! She Won!” “I just knew you could do it little lassy!” “She's grown so much...” “That's my Wylla! Yay!” Streams of celebration came down from above.

[ Congratulations Wylla! You defeated the Witch, completing your Defeating the Wycked Witch of the South quest, earning 20 lyr and 500 XP. You are now Rank 1! Yay! ]

Powerful waves of Oryn energy moved about in all three of Michael's Trinity cores. He could feel changes taking place inside him but now was not the time for that as there was still a battle going on! So he focused on calming the rising tides of energy. Breathing in and out for several short minutes as the fluctuations, ripples, and pulses within calmed.

Sighing in relief he looked towards Syl. The corners of his lips lifting; Looks like she has her battle well in hand. Happy, he touched the Witch's body to push his tired body up off the ground as an infobox popped up:

[ Would you like to loot the Witch's remains? Y/N ]

“Yes Please!'”

[ Here you go Wylla. You have received the Witch's beautiful Briar Bloodrose Dress and 3 pouches filled with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. You'll look beautiful in that dress Wylla. We can hardly wait to see you in it. ]

“Ooh, she's going to look like a beautiful fairy princess...” “I can't wait to see... hurry lassy put it on...” “Aye! That dress will go wonderfully with her hair...” Various streams of encouragement and anticipation softly streamed down from above.

Michael's head looked down into his hands that were holding the beautiful dress, his face lightly blushing.

[ Briar Bloodrose Dress is a beautiful fairy witch styled dress reminding one of a midsummer night's dream. This dress is made of the finest Oryn infused spiln threads and increases the wearers Int +3, Wis +3, Aura +5 when worn. This is a divine growth type garment and will become soulbound when worn. Rank 1, Tier 0, Level 0

Bonus Stat: This dress also increases any wearer's Charisma by +5 as long as the wearer already has said stat unlocked.]

“Ugh! Why did it have to be Charisma...” Shaking his head, Michael got up off the ground and then chose the equip option as his furbee outfit was replaced by the Briar Bloodrose Dress.

“Quick, get my camera!” “Ah, mine too!” Various lights strobed down from above as Michael did his best to ignore it.

He then placed the 3 pouches over his shoulder, deciding it is best to check what's in them at a later time. He paused for a moment in thought, then looked about before asking, “Umm... so Anari, do you know where my furbee outfit is? I can't seem to find it.”

[ Your furbee shorty shorts and furbee sports bra are still on you underneath your new beautiful dress. As for your furbee halter top, I put it nice and folded into the largest of your new pouches. ]

“Ah, that's great. Thanks, Anari!”

[ You're Welcome Wylla! :) ]

"Okay... now, where did I throw it?" Michael searched the ground once more. There it is... Michael walked towards the Briar Bloodrose Assegai on the ground, bent down, and picked it up.

[ Would you like to Soulbind the Witch's Briar Bloodrose Weapon? Y/N ]

“Yes Please!”

The Briar Bloodrose Assegai spear shifted back into its staff form as a blood-red thorn grew, biting into Michael's palm; “Ouch!” Michael yelped as the staff glowed golden-green for a breath or two, becoming his.

[ Briar Bloodrose Staff/Assegai Spear

Divine Growth Type Weapon Soulbound to Wylla Wylden

The Briar Bloodrose is a beautiful and fragrant plant that grew around the Briar Bloodrose Witch's hut in the Desparu Swamp Forest. As such, they can only be found on extremely rare occasions. Those who are fortunate enough to obtain this weapon should thank the young Goddess of Plants and Forests, Sylvenori for their incredibly good luck.

Current Weapon Strength: Rank 1, Tier 0, Lvl 0

Weapon Skills:

Briar Bloodrose Serpenvine Chains (Range Spell) Summons Briar Bloodrose Serpenvine Chains from the ground near target. The chains bind the target's limbs hindering movement and causing thorn damage. Current Damage Strength: 1 to 2 points of damage per 2 seconds for 10 seconds. All crits add 50% more damage.

Cost to Use Skill: 5 Oryn Energy Power.

Briar Bloodrose Thrust (Melee) Infuses the Briar Bloodrose Weapon with the power of Bloodlet Poison causing the target to bleed for 50% of the piercing thrust's damage over the course of 10 seconds. Current Damage Strength: 4 to 6 points of damage. All crits add 50% more time to poisoning.

Cost to Use Skill: 5 Oryn Energy Power ]

“This is awesome! Thanks, Anari!” Michael said with a huge smile on his face.

[ You're Welcome Wylla :) ]

Yes, now I have a great mix of weapons but... “How am I going to carry it while fighting when I'm using my rod or wand?” Michael's lips pursed in thought as he looked about. “I wonder... can it shrink to fit on my waist next to my wand or...” Michael looked at his long spiln hair hanging over his shoulder “... maybe I can control my hair to wrap around it to hold it across my back? But just the thought of it hanging there behind me while I'm fighting doesn't sound very safe nor practical... Hmmm, If only I could equip and unequip it with magic like Erza from that anime...”

Michael exhaled deeply, shook his head, and gripped his new staff, “Oh well, for now, I guess I can just toss it on the ground during fights when I don't need to use it. It's not like anyone else can use it anyways since its soulbound to me.”

[ Don't worry Wylla I'm sure something helpful that will solve your problem will soon come up. ;) ]

“Oh... okay! Thanks, Anari,” Michael knew better than to ask what that 'something' would be but was still comforted by the fact that 'something' helpful to solve this problem would pop up.

Looks like Jen... no, no, no... get used to her game name! Syl, it's Syl! And Syl is about to finish up her quest... hmm... I still need the Grimoire where ever that may be... and I wonder if I can take that cauldron with me... looks heavy though... Michael thought to himself as he walked up to the cauldron and stretched out his hand to touch it.

Storymask

Michael did it! He's now Rank 1! Yay!... But before the party can start, there are still things that need doing. Coming Up next Chapter 50: Of Death and Rebirth

Side Note: I changed the name of Wylla's Dire Syldrake ability to Dire Syldrake Guardian.

Edited/Revised on Jan 6, 2020 (A special thanks to reader Truth for his guidance on the melee fight scenes!)