“Cinn, protect Lea! Phanos, try to restrain it without hurting her body too much. Cookie, no fire spells. Brie, you’re with me! We’re going to try suppressing it!” Q gave out a bunch of orders and then charged towards the Kindersnatch while casting a reinforcement rune on herself and her staff. The Kindersnatch also moved forward at the same time, meeting Q’s charge with an inhuman speed. For a moment Q was surprised but she was able to react by using her staff to block strange looking hands which were swung at her.
Wendy’s body seemed to be normal, but it was covered with the same white swirls which were in her eyes. The swirls - which closely resembled fog - gathered together and formed the shape of claws which were wildly slashing at Q. To Q’s credit she was able to deal with it by making small and quick circular movements with her staff to both simultaneously block the attacks and push her away. At this point Brie joined Q and they worked together to keep the Kindersnatch from moving too much - where Q continued to push it away while Brie made very small cuts around the joints in an attempt to slow its movement.
Meanwhile Cinnamon took a position to defend Lea by keeping her close and half-wrapping one of her wings around her. She also began to cast a few light spells and sent them throughout the chamber, illuminating it while also placing them in locations to keep the Kindersnatch ‘boxed in’. Phanos made an action similar to Cinnamon where she threw many cross-shaped sticks into the ground and chanted a spell. The effects were almost immediate as small symbols appeared which connected the sticks together, and the Kindersnatch’s speed was instantly reduced by half.
Kukis had the least to do since most of her attacks were incredibly strong and had the risk of possibly collapsing the chamber they were in. Not to mention quite a few of her potions were gas-based which meant she couldn’t use them in a closed area. Her other ones activated on contact, but they did a lot of damage and could cause some serious harm to Wendy’s body if used incorrectly. In the end she decided to use wind spells to harass the Kindersnatch, and at the same time used a few void spells to push around the various torture devices that might get in the way of the other girls.
Being instantly suppressed like this, the Kindersnatch let out a cry of indignation and more fog poured out and covered the chamber. Suddenly the Kindersnatch disappeared, then reappeared directly behind Kukis. Cinnamon (who was the closest to her) instantly let out a beam of light from her spear, while Phanos threw a knife covered in a green glow. Both attacks hit the Kindersnatch which lowered its health a bit, but it ignored these and thrust an arm towards Kukis.
The moment the arm made contact Kukis let out a cry of pain. Suddenly her health began dropping and at the same time the Kindersnatch’s health (which had been depleted slightly from Cinnamon and Phanos’ attacks) began to fill up again. Just because Kukis was surprised didn’t mean she didn’t prepare any countermeasures for sneak attacks, so she yelled out “[Blast Mine]!”
The ground behind her ruptured as an explosion of rocks and fire came out and blasted the Kindersnatch away. In this brief moment Cinnamon picked up Lea in her arms and moved to cover Kukis. Two healing spells took care of Kukis’ health, but she took some mana potions as her mana had also been depleted from that draining attack just now.
“Ugh. An enemy with a draining attack. We’re also super restricted from attacking it, which makes it ten times more of a pain.” Kukis noted once she had recovered.
“Yeah, and now that this fog is covering the entire area it can sneak attack us from anywhere. Not even [Magic Perception] is working.” Q said as she and Brie returned to the group. All five of the girls stood in a circle (with Lea sitting in the middle) as they tried to come up with a plan to defeat the Kindersnatch.
“P-please, you can’t hurt her! She’s… she’s-!” Lea seemed to regain her senses and began pleading with the girls.
“Unless there’s a way to save her, we don’t have much choice. Otherwise we all die here.” Q said with a regretful face. “Our only hope is that the witches you called beforehand show up, but we have no idea how long that’ll take.”
“I too, would rather not inflict harm upon an acquaintance but…” Brie also appeared to have steeled her resolve as her sword glowed with magic energy.
“Lea, is there anything we can do?” Kukis looked the apprentice straight in the eye. “All of us want to save her, but if it’s too late then there’s nothing we can do about it. If you have any ideas then tell us and we’ll try our best.”
“...” Phanos remained silent, but her intentions were clear. If any harm comes to Milady, I will kill without hesitation.
“Incoming!” Cinnamon yelled as she extended her wing to block a mass of solidified fog which headed for the group. The impact caused her to shake a little, but she stood her ground. “Think Lea!” She said with a fierce tone. “This is your chance to save your friend!”
“I… I understand.” Lea closed her eyes in concentration.
“Save? There’s no saving this girl! Hehehehe!” The Kindersnatch’s voice echoed throughout the chamber, taunting the girls. Then it appeared in front of the group with the blue bird on its shoulder. “Soon, you will all be consumed alongside this girl. It’s only a matter of time. Oh, and that help you’re waiting for? It won’t reach in time. My walls are strong, and only things I want to let through can get through.” It sent a few more blasts of solid fog which the girls worked together to block.
“...Consumed alongside?” Lea focused on those words and widened her eyes as she came to a realization. “It hasn’t eaten her yet! It’s only temporarily possessing her body! We still have a chance! If we can do something to drive her out then...”
“Tch.” The Kindersnatch clicked its tongue in annoyance. “I have been told that I’m greedy… So what if I haven’t eaten her soul completely yet? It doesn’t change the fact that you can’t hurt me.”
“Actually, that changes a lot of things.” Q grinned. “Everyone, let’s work together to save her!”
““Yeah!”” The girls collectively yelled and renewed their assault on the Kindersnatch.
Phanos started first by throwing a knife covered in a yellow glow. The Kindersnatch blocked it with a wall of fog, but Phanos snapped her fingers and the knife exploded, breaking the wall and creating a clear path straight to the Kindersnatch. Cinnamon then followed up by sending a blast of light magic towards the Kindersnatch. It didn’t cause much damage to Wendy’s body as it only left a few patches of reddened skin, but the Kindersnatch’s health bar dropped substantially. The Kindersnatch then teleported away to gain some distance, but Q was ready for that.
She shot out a rune circle made out of ‘slow’ and ‘stop’ runes and activated it on the ground the Kindersnatch was standing on. The Kindersnatch resisted most of the effects, but was still visibly slower as it struggled to back away from Brie who dashed forward to attack. The Kindersnatch brought out those fog claws again and used them to forcefully block against Brie’s furious slashes that were covered in light magic.
While Brie pushed back the Kindersnatch, Kukis brought out a potion and handed it to Q. “Force feed it!” She said as she began casting a few light spells. Q nodded and grabbed the potion, then ran up to meet Brie who continued to suppress the Kindersnatch.
“Phanos, can you stop it for one second?” Q asked.
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“I can for at least three.” Phanos responded matter-of-factly. “Though I doubt you require that much time.” She then threw the cross-shaped sticks into the ceiling directly above and the ground right below the Kindersnatch. “Milady, please step back.” Phanos said while activating her spell. Brie jumped back as the lines that connected the sticks before also connected vertically, trapping the Kindersnatch in a pseudo-cage. This cage also had the effect of clearing away the fog inside, causing the Kindersnatch to scream and struggle to escape.
Q used a speed rune on herself, then pulled off the cork from the potion and concentrated. The instant the cage dissipated from the Kindersnatch’s attacks, Q dashed forward and tackled it down, then shoved the potion directly into its mouth and held its nose. Does it even need to breathe? She worried as she waited for the Kindersnatch’s reaction. Thankfully it reacted normally, as it began to sputter and struggle, but eventually swallowed the potion.
As soon as it did its eyes widened and it shoved Q back with immense force, taking away almost a fifth of her health. “W-what did you do to me!?” It screamed as it clutched its stomach in agony.
“Oh, just a potion that causes terrible stomach pains. It’s about ten times stronger than the one I gave Q! Now, get out of that body or suffer the consequences!” Kukis laughed evilly.
“Ten times stronger? That’s nasty…” Q muttered as she remembered the pain she had felt before.
“ARGH! Making a fool of me!” The Kindersnatch screamed again and something white started to form above Wendy’s body. A female figure with thin wispy hair appeared. It had empty eyes which looked like a dark void, and it’s body looked like it was made out of thin fog. From deep within its body came out chains which went inside Wendy;s body. “I’ve decided, I’m going to eat you first!” It screamed as it moved towards Kukis.
Both the Kindersnatch and Wendy’s body moved together, though Wendy’s body was slightly slower. Cinnamon positioned herself to stop the Kindersnatch’s charge but also left a protective shield of light around Kukis just in case. Kukis also set up a bunch [Blast Mines], but unexpectedly the Kindersnatch didn’t use it’s ‘disappearing’ trick to reappear behind Kukis. Instead it condensed the fog which covered the chamber and shot them at the girls from all directions.
Though blocking one or two was no problem for the girls, the sheer amount of attacks soon began to overwhelm them. Only Brie was able to calmly intercept each and every attack directed towards her, while the rest of the group had to come up with their own method of dealing with the attack. While this was happening, the Kindersnatch was intercepted by Cinnamon who began swinging her spear in seemingly random directions. All of her attacks were directed at the Kindersnatch’s body though.
Each time the Kindersnatch tried to slip by her, Cinnamon would quickly get in its way and push her back with a flap of her wings. This exchange continued for a while until Wendy’s body began to attack Cinnamon. Left with no choice, Cinnamon forcefully shoved her back, eliciting a small cry from her. This girl… is she still conscious in there? She wondered as she continued to push back the Kindersnatch.
Suddenly Q broke away from the fog attacks on her body by using a reinforce rune on herself. Then she used another rune in an attempt to cut off one of the chains that bound Wendy and the Kindersnatch together. The chain shook violently, resulting in both the Kindersnatch and Wendy screaming in pain. “Crap. Sorry Wendy.” Q changed her target to the Kindersnatch who then focused on her.
The Kindersnatch ignored Q’s attacks and sped towards her. All of the girls at this point had gotten through the fog attacks, and focused their efforts on the Kindersnatch while taking care to avoid the chains. Despite this, the Kindersnatch seemed unbothered (though it’s health dropped to two thirds) and it got within 5 meters of Q. Of course Q was already moving to get away, but she didn’t expect the chains which suddenly flew from its body. As the chains wrapped around her, Q heard a multitude of whispers in her head which were saying things like, ‘give up’ or ‘let me in’.
Q gritted her teeth and shook her head in an attempt to ignore the whispers, but as more and more chains wrapped around her the whispers became louder until eventually they were deafening screams. At this point Q’s body stopped moving and had a listless look in her eye as the same white swirls that were in Wendy’s eyes appeared in hers. At the same time, the chains slowly began to sink into her body. If any of the girls checked the party menu, they would have seen that Q was afflicted with a status, [Possessed].
“Q!” Cinnamon instantly ran over and tried to help, but the Kindersnatch forced Wendy’s body into Cinnamon to stop her.
“Shiiiit…” Kukis swore under her breath. “What do I do? I feel so useless…”
“Release my friend!” Brie dashed in with a furious expression on her face. Her attacks were let out without restraint, causing the Kindersnatch to scream in frustration as it was pushed back by the sheer amount of spells Brie let loose on it.
“I’m not sorry for this.” Without warning, Phanos appeared in front of Q and then spartan kicked her far away from the Kindersnatch. This kick was so strong that Q actually flew in the air for a few seconds and collapsed on the ground about 10 meters away. While Q was flying through the air, the chains which were wrapped around her were unexpectedly weak and snapped as soon as she was about 5 meters away from the Kindersnatch. Her health was also low, but that was quickly fixed by Kukis who made her way towards Q and used her potions without restraint.
“Q! Are you alright?!” Brie asked with concern as she took a moment to look back at the fox girl lying on the ground.
“Y...yeah. Thanks Phanos, but couldn’t you have held back a little? That hurt!” Q complained as she got up with Kukis’ help.
“Hmph.” Phanos ignored Q and attacked the Kindersnatch who was being held back by Cinnamon (though Q couldn’t help but notice a smirk on her face). The Kindersnatch tried throwing its chains at Phanos but she snorted in contempt and threw a multitude of knives back at it while dodging the chains.
Now thoroughly enraged, the Kindersnatch threw chains in all directions while also using the condensed fog to knock the girls around. The only one who got caught was Cinnamon who prevented them from getting to Kukis and Lea. Her body quickly underwent the same changes Q’s had, but once the other girls grabbed her and hauled her away to a safe distance the chains broke and she went back to normal.
“Hey, can’t we do the same to Wendy?” Kukis suggested.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. They both screamed in pain earlier when I tried cutting it. Who knows what’ll happen if it breaks?” Q was very hesitant as she didn’t want to hurt Wendy.
“It seems like a better idea to continue whittling it down like this anyway.” Cinnamon said as she blocked another mass of fog directed at the girls. “The Kindersnatch’s health is now down to half. We should just do this slow and steady, and not do anything crazy.”
“Sounds good to me.” Q continued to fire out large amounts of small attacks.
Like this, the girls patiently wore it down with their attacks. At one point the Kindersnatch managed to break free and began draining the health of Brie, but before it could even drain 10 points, it was instantly beaten back by Phanos who attacked with a speed she didn’t display earlier. By the time the Kindersnatch’s health was less than a quarter full, the girls were also in an exhausted state. The Kindersnatch’s attacks constantly harassed them and if anyone got caught out, it would immediately make a move to drain their health. The girls were also starting to run low on mana and health as Kukis’ potions began to ran out (though they were still hovering around 70%).
“Hrraagghh!!!” The Kindersnatch began to tug at the chains which connected it and Wendy. “This damn body is holding me back!” One by one the chains began to snap, making the Kindersnatch grunt in pain. Wendy on the other hand looked like her soul was being wrenched out, and her screams reverberated throughout the torture chamber.
“Shit! Stop it!” All members of the party scrambled and bombarded the Kindersnatch with attacks, but they were too late, as the final chain snapped and Wendy’s body fell lifelessly on the floor.
“Wendy! No!!!” Lea screamed out. She didn’t even have time to feel grief as the Kindersnatch instantly appeared behind her and thrust a hand into her body. The Kindersnatch’s health began to fill up again, while Lea was unable to move.
“You think I’ll let you? [Angel’s Grace]!” Cinnamon yelled. All of a sudden a halo of light appeared above Lea’s head, repelling the Kindersnatch while slowly mending Lea’s injury.
“Damn it. Everyone, full force! This thing dies now!” For the first time since playing this game, Q became incredibly furious. Her body began to glow red, while a low growl escaped from her throat. She ran forward and punched the Kindersnatch with a ‘slow’ rune on her fist, causing it to freeze in place. “Kukis!” Q screamed.
“I got it.” From her staff came out a raging tempest which went around the Kindersnatch, clearing away the fog around it. Then she sent out a stream of flame, followed up by a spire of rock directly underneath the Kindersnatch. When the fire met the tempest, it grew even larger and the flames burned the Kindersnatch’s body, while the rock spire sent its body up into the air.
“Phanos!” Q began making a large rune gate with her staff.
Phanos threw out all the remaining knives she had in an octagon pattern, and with a few words a stream of magic appeared, connecting the knives. Once the knives surrounded the Kindersnatch, they hovered for a moment then turned inwards and closed in on it, stabbing its body while restraining it with the stream of magic. The Kindersnatch then began to fall.
“Brie!” Q simultaneously created another rune gate with her tail and her staff.
“Yes.” With a face just as angry as Q’s, Brie dashed forward and positioned herself underneath the Kindersnatch. Her sword glowed multiple colors, then she stabbed it into the air, yelling “[Elemental Thrust]!” All the elements were fired out from her sword, piercing into the Kindersnatch’s body and dropping its health by a significant amount. Brie wasn’t done just yet though, as she then let out a flurry of slashes while it was still falling, then used one final thrust to push it away.
“Cinnamon!” Q now prepared her [Charge Spark] in one hand, while creating one final rune gate with the other.
“[Cross Bind]!” Cinnamon threw her spear at the Kindersnatch, and once it made contact a bright light in the form of a cross came out. The Kindersnatch was trapped in this light and unable to move. By now its health was at critical levels, and it finally started to fear for its life.
“Alright you bastard, take this!” All the rune gates Q created were filled completely with the ‘amplify’ rune, and she lined them up in a straight line to the Kindersnatch. “Charge… SPAAAARRK!!!” As the line of electricity passed through each gate, it became larger and larger, until it was large enough to completely engulf the Kindersnatch.
“NO! NOOOOOO!” The Kindersnatch wailed as it began to fade away. By the time Q’s spell ended, any trace of the Kindersnatch was completely gone, and the fog in the area disappeared as well. Messages began popping up, but Q ignored them as she looked over at Lea who had made her way to Wendy.
“Damn it.” She muttered, as she slowly walked over to the now crying apprentice.