Today is the day. We'll finally be able to put our plan into action. Operation: Save Rein from the head witch.

It was still early but the crowd had already gathered in the center of the Isle. They were all excited about the upcoming ritual. Little do they know that what's about to happen is something horrible.

The head witch was already at the center of the stage. Rein is near her. Even though today is the day when she’ll finally lose herself, she still looked calm. She's entrusting me with her life and I won't let her down.

Komraad on the other hand is in the head witch's room looking for the wands of the other witches.

“Everyone, welcome! Today’s the day! Finally, our curse will be lifted by my daughter, Rein.”

[Crowds cheering]

“How do I stop the ritual? Do I just attack the head witch? But I would look like the bad guy if I do that. I need to show everyone that the head witch is a bad person. How do I do that?!? Wait, the witches cannot perform magic without a wand, right? Then does that mean if I take the head witch's wand then she won't be able to use magic? Why didn't I think about that sooner?!?”

“I remember her being very sensitive about her face. Maybe if I damage it then she'll snap and show her true colors.”

The ritual is about to begin. The atmosphere changed and the crowd went silent.

“It's time, Rein, you've been a good daughter. You have no idea how long I waited for this day to come. I have nurtured you to perfection and now, that perfection will be mine.”

The head witch assumed that Rein would be confused but instead, she replied to her with a brimming smile.

“Oh, Mother. I knew from the start.”

“What did you just say?”

Rein smiled, showing her that she was not scared at all.

“The head witch was confused. This is now my chance!”

I flew to the stage and scratched the head witch's face and grabbed the wand in her hand after.

“W-what is this? What is happening? What did you do to my face?!?”

She touched her face and noticed it was bleeding. She finally snapped, showing her true colors to everyone, I thought it was over, that it was that easy but I did a miscalculation.

Why didn't I think of it? The head witch having a spare wand?

The head witch grabbed the stick that was holding her hair down.

“This is bad.”

“You insolent, ungrateful brat. You only have one purpose and you can't even do that! Was all of this your plan? You said you already know about the ritual right? That means you planned on disobeying me from the start!”

Rein was scared. She was defenseless and had no way to fight back.

The head witch pointed her wand directly at her.

“I have to teach you a lesson.”

I thought she wouldn't hurt Rein because she doesn't want to damage her body but I was wrong. She isn't thinking straight anymore.

“No, it's about to hit Rein! Please body, don't let me down.”

I rushed towards Rein to block the attack and thankfully, my powers came in clutch again. I was able to transform into my human form and stop the attack from reaching her. The spell burned my hand a little but it was nothing compared to the pain Rein has gone through.

“You've done enough head witch, why don't you pick on someone your own size?”

I tried sounding cool but I know deep inside that I'm scared too.

“Who are you?!?” The head witch asked angrily.

“Oh, I'm just a cat who doesn't want her kitten to get hurt.”

I looked at Rein and gave her a smile, letting her know that everything's gonna be alright.

“Rein, get out of here. Leave everything to me.”

“Ms. Ina? I-is that you?” Rein was shocked to see me turn into a human.

“Yeah, it's me. I told you right? I'll come and save you. now go, I can't protect you while fighting her.”

The head witch prepared another attack, this time it was bigger and stronger.

The crowd was shocked after seeing that the head witch could use magic.

“Oh no, the spell will hit the crowd.”

“Everyone please evacuate immediately! This is not part of the play!” Fae shouted from behind.

Due to Fae's words, the crowd was able to regain composure. Fae led everyone to safety, the other witches also helped her. Rein got off the stage and evacuated with the others too.

“I guess it's just the two of us,” I said to make her focus on our fight and not cause any damage to others.

The head witch was full of rage.

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“You! You appear out of nowhere, damage my face and now you're trying to stop something that I've worked on so hard! I'll kill you!”

She cast a spell directly at me. I could dodge it but the crowd hasn't fully evacuated yet.

“Shit, how do I even fight back? My beam requires time to release but looking back at the village, my power was so strong it even destroyed a mountain in the process. If I use that here then I might end up disintegrating the whole Isle.”

“My understanding is that the longer I prepare my power, the stronger it gets, and the more energy it consumes. But what if I release it as soon as I cast it? Will it even work? I'll never know until I try.”

“Ah, stop overthinking. Here comes the attack.”

I released my power to counter the head witch's spell.

“I-it worked! It's not that powerful but it's enough to stop her attack. I can minimize the damage to this place that way and it doesn't exhaust me that much. This will work! I’ll just fight her until Komraad comes back with the wands.”

“Even if the head witch is powerful, she can't fight many at once. I'm not confident I can defeat her. For now, let's just buy as much time as possible.”

“I'll burn you to a crisp! I'll teach you how to mind your own business!”

The head witch released a barrage of fireballs.

“Shit! I'm too slow! I can't block all of it.”

I wasn't able to stop some of her attacks. It ended up burning and destroying some houses. I don't know if everyone evacuated already, I don't have time to check, but I hope no one got hurt.

(Back to Fae and Rein)

[Crowds talking]

“Has everyone evacuated already?” Fae asked everyone.

She was checking if someone was injured so she can tend to their wounds. While looking, Fae saw Rein in the crowd and she approached her.

“Big sis Rein, you're okay! Thank goodness.”

Fae hugged her.

“Oh, you're the girl from the alley before.”

*Nod* *Nod*

“Sorry, we lied to you before.”

“It’s okay, don't worry about it. I'm actually glad both you and Ms. Ina came into my life. I'm worried about her though. I know how powerful the head witch is. I don't know if she can handle her on her own.”

“Don't worry, Ms. Ina is very strong. She defeated a demon before and saved my life and my village.”

“But, still. I know I'm powerless and that I'll only hold her back, but I wish I could help in some way.”

“Yeah, you're right. You'll only hold her back that's why you have to stay here so that her efforts won't go to waste. If you get hurt then all of this would be pointless,” Komraad said as he appeared in front of Rein and Fae.

“Mr. Komraad, You're back,” Fae said.

“W-who is he?” Rein asked.

“Don't worry big sis, he's with us.”

“Mr. Komraad, how was it? Did you find what you're looking for?”

“About that. I did find where it was hidden and retrieved it but all of it was destroyed.”

“Oh no,” Fae worriedly replied.

Komraad brought all the broken wands and showed them.

“It's useless now. How are you supposed to fight back with a broken wand? Aah, forget it. Fae stay here. I'll go join cat in the fight,” Komraad said after showing the broken wands.

“Okay, please be careful and please come back with Ms. Ina no matter what,” Fae replied.

Komraad rushed towards me to help fight the head witch. After he left, Rein felt guilty about letting us handle her problem but she was determined to help.

“Big sis, what are you doing? Those wands are already destroyed,” Fae asked out of confusion.

Fae was clueless about why Rein was going over the broken wands.

“There must be at least one working! I wanna help them out. This is my problem but I can't even do anything. I wanna be useful too,” Rein said as tears started falling from her eyes.

Fae was gonna cheer her up when someone suddenly shouted in the crowd crying for help. It was the noble we encountered on our first day here.

“Please someone, help my daughter, she's injured.” The noble cried in agony after seeing her daughter in pain.

Fae heard and decided to help them without a second thought.

“Big sis, I'm going to stay here and help them. I know the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of not being able to do anything but in the end, it will still be our choice to stand up and do something about it as long as our heart is on the right path.”

Rein stood up and finally had the courage to fight back.

“You're right Fae, I shouldn't be giving up here. I think I know what I have to do now. I'm gonna go back and help Ms. Ina.”

“Go, big sis. Follow what your heart is telling you.”

Fae helped the noble's daughter while Rein came back to help us.

“The head witch’s wand, the one Ms. Ina took earlier, I think it's still on the stage. I'm gonna look for it,” Rein said to herself while trying to run back as fast as possible.

(Back to the present)

*Huff* *Huff*

“I'm getting exhausted. We've been exchanging blows for quite a while now. This turned out to be a battle of whose stamina runs out first.”

This is going nowhere. I was able to counter all of her spells except for one. It was about to hit me when Komraad suddenly appeared and carried me to safety allowing me to dodge the spell.

“Were you waiting for me Cat? I'm here to rescue you,” he said to make himself look good.

“Thank goodness you're back! What took you so long? Did you find the wands?”

“Yeah but all of them were destroyed. Don't worry though, the two of us are enough to defeat her.”

“Do you think you have the leverage to talk while fighting me?” The head witch interrupted us.

She created a wall of flame that separates me from Komraad.

“Komraad look out!” I pushed him out of the way so he wouldn’t get caught in the flame.

“Gah!, Hot hot hot... Hey, cat are you okay?” Komraad asked me on the other side of the flame.

“Yeah, I'm fine, but it looks like you can't come in here.”

“Grrr! I just joined in the fight and now I'm out already!?! I'll find a way to get in and help you, just survive until then cat.”

“You don't have to tell me what to do, but hurry, I think I'm reaching my limit,” I said to him.

“You really are a thorn in my side!” The atmosphere around the head witch changed. It felt like she was preparing herself to finish this once and for all.

“I'm gonna finish you now and I'll take everything with you.” She was determined on killing me and she doesn't care what'll happen with the Isle anymore.

She used all her mana in her last attack. She called meteorites from the sky to fall on the Isle.

“Oh no! If those fell, it would be devastating, I gotta think of something fast or every single life in this Isle will perish.”

I have to give it my all too. I used all my remaining power to stop the meteorites but it wasn't enough.

*Poof*

I turned back into a cat after using every bit of my energy.

“Oh no. I used all my energy already. I haven't destroyed all the meteorites yet. It’s about to fall, what should I do?!?”

I was about to lose hope when Rein suddenly appeared on the stage.

“I found it, I knew it was still here.”

Rein was holding the wand I took from the head witch earlier.

“Rein?!? What are you doing here? It's dangerous, get out of here!”

“Ms. Ina, thank you. I'll take it from here. You've already done enough to help me. This has gone on for too long. I'm going to put an end to this.”

With the wand she was holding, she cast a spell creating a dome of water enveloping the whole Isle. The dome acted as a barrier to stop the meteorites from reaching the surface.

“No! M-my final magic!” The head witch was shocked that her strongest spell was stopped.

Amazing, I can't believe my eyes. It's the first time Rein ever held a wand but it's like she's been casting magic ever since she was a baby. Her mastery of magic is unbelievable.

“How dare you disobey me over and over again! You useless brat! Do you think you can win against me? You, who were never allowed to use magic?!? You're not even my real daughter and you had the audacity to fight against me?!? You're just a vessel, you're not allowed to think for yourself so just accept your fate already!”

“It doesn’t matter if we’re not related by blood. You didn't allow me to learn magic because you're scared that one day I might end up becoming your downfall but you see, that's your greatest mistake. That only made me work harder. For many years I read and read and read a book about magic until I memorized all of it. It's all in my head. All I needed was a wand to make it work and now I have it. I waited for the day when I can finally fight back against my fate.”

“All my life I pretended, but mother, no, head witch, this is my one final act and my farewell to you. May you never cause harm to anybody ever again”

The atmosphere around Rein changed. She was determined to end everything with her final attack.

[Ultimate Magic: Aqua of Elefthería]

With her final spell, she summoned water formed like a bird and engulfed the head witch causing her to suffocate and pass out.

Rein finally defeated not only the head witch but also her fate. Everything is now over. The tyranny of the evil head witch has ended. Finally, everyone is free from her grasp, not only Rein, not only the witches but also the Isle itself.

“You did it Rein, you finally did it! Ugh, I don't have any energy left. I think I'm gonna rest first.”

She ran towards me and hugged me while crying in joy.

“I wouldn't be able to do it without your help, without everyone's help. Ms. Ina, everyone, thank you. I'm finally free. I don't have to keep pretending anymore. All because you came into my life. I thought this was the day I'll finally lose myself but it's actually the day I’ll finally be free.”

“I'm happy for you Rein. I wanna celebrate but I'm really tired right now. can I take a nap first?”

“Take your time Ms. Ina.” Rein sat and put me on her lap.

“Oh, before I forget. Rein, Happy 13th birthday.”

“Thank you, Ms. Ina. I'll cherish this life you fought for me.”

After the fight finally concluded and the fire the head witch created subsided. Everyone gathered back at the center of the Isle including Fae and Komraad. Everyone was cheering and was happy that a disaster was prevented. Also, the witches that were once slaves to the head witch have finally tasted freedom. They tied and put the unconscious head witch in a cage so that she would never cause harm ever again.