WITCH OF THE END

After the small "beep" from the security system, the locks twisted along with the doorknob, and the metallic door opened. Two women walked into the silence. One was a tall silver-haired beauty. While the other was pale with short black messy hair. Beauty wasn't the thing written on her face, though.

It was the three Ts as she called them at times; Terror, Tiredness, and Torture.

She was tired because she had a bunch of paperwork and briefings she needed to go through since she was now part of the subjugation. Yes, she was too much of a coward to turn down her mother's request. Also, Luna felt dread each time the thought of having to fight a cursed creature or an infected crossed her mind. These creatures were mindless and unpredictable. What if she comes into contact with black ether? What would her fate be then?

Being unaware of her fate tortured her mind. Luna sighed silently as she slowly removed her shoes.

On the other hand, Len rushed past her and tossed her body on the leather couch in the sitting room. Didn't she read the no shoes in the apartment sign?

'Ahh...I should make one.' she scowled with an irritated look on her face.

"Arghhhh…."

"I am so tired." Cried Len after groaning into one of the pillows."Pretty neat room though."

"It's a neat apartment, dearest sister. And I would like to keep it that way," Luna added, glaring at her sister's shoes which were now touching her couch.

Sensing her sister's deadly gaze, Len paled a little before quickly removing her shoes and sighed with relief once Luna's gaze left her. However, as the young woman exhaled, her breath appeared like vapor even though it wasn't called in the room.

Luna could feel the sudden chill in the air. This was her sister's Aura reminding her of its presence. "I didn't expect to see you so soon," Luna began.

"Me neither. I was waiting to be drafted off to the Northern Settlement and support the Ares Clan and maybe learn how to use my Aura in real battles," Len replied casually and smiled. "But this is good. I get to spend time with my cute little sister."

"We're a year apart." Luna rolled her eyes as she made her way to the kitchen to prepare something for them. She felt strange having her sister as a guest, actually having a guest was already making her stomach turn a little. Letting people into her comfort zone didn't settle with her being.

So, to calm herself, she decided to task herself with making dinner despite feeling so tired. She opened her fridge and pulled out some packed beef, eggs, leftover rice, and a few other things like soy sauce, sugar, and dashi.

Luna was planning to make some Gyudon with Tamago. It was quick to make and could fill the stomachs of two hungry girls with ease.

Also, not to brag or anything, Luna thought of herself as an excellent cook. Fighting wasn't the only skill she inherited with her blood. But she kept that secret to herself.

***

The two settled on the couch with steamy bowls of Gyudon with a pair of chopsticks in each of their hands. Luna started with her rice, her chopsticks grabbing a good amount in a practiced manner and leading it to her mouth. It was delicious. Just as she had expected.

After some time of eating in silence, the air was now calm. Luna saw the opportunity, so she finally popped the question that had been lingering on her mind all day since the meeting in the morning. "Do you think anyone will die during the subjugation?"

Lena paused her meal and leaned back in the coach. As the older sister, she was surprised she didn't know what to say to her younger sister. How pitiful of her. Her expression darkened a little as she responded, "Many die during subjugations. Have you forgotten that our father died during one? Whether mundane soldiers or powerful ascenders, we are all capable of dying, little sis. So you shouldn't ask such dumb questions."

"Sorry." Luna stared at her bowl. What was she thinking starting the conversation with a death-related topic?

"No need to apologize. I'm just uptight with all of this. The subjugation is happening in two weeks and I'm already playing the role of captain yet I've just opened my second Soul Gate recently. Sigh, I just have a very bad feeling about this."

When she mentioned that, Luna suddenly lost the taste of her food and her appetite disappeared. The subjugation was to take about three weeks due to how massive the threat was. Her clan was taking charge with the government military following behind it. The allied Houses like Ares were also sending their finished ascenders from the Northern Settlement to fight alongside house Feng as a sign of the mutual friendship the two great houses had for each other. Knowing the god they served and the Territory they came from, Luna was confident in the skills the Members of House Ares had.

She drew in a sharp breath and placed the bowl on the small table in front of them. The pair remained silent as the bright images of her television continued to display.

Len was tense, meaning that this wasn't just a bad feeling. As a warrior, trusting your instincts is very important in life.

Luna wouldn't call Len a good martial artist, but she showed signs of great potential. She was a genius capable of learning and mastering difficult techniques in a short window of time. She was also one of the best cultivators in their generation because of how fast she opened her second gate and achieved mastery of level 2. These…facts, often made Luna jealous of her sister. But also proud.

If you were to ask her how she truly felt about Lena, she would say she loved her sister more than anyone else in this hellbent reality. And because of that love, Luna wasn't going to regret participating in the subjugation. It would be nice to fight by her side.

'This subjugation will have to be a success. I will make sure of it.' Luna suddenly felt a wave of determination wash down on her as she finally found her motivation.

"I guess we have to be extra careful…you have to be extra careful, Len."

"Says the person who has no zenshi, you're not immune to the corruption like us. That means you will have to wear a body suit to protect yourself."

"I think I can handle myself with or without zenshi. I'm still superhuman, after all."

Lena held herself back from rolling her eyes. The corners of her lips curled upwards before she brought her bowl closer to her face to finish the rest of the rice. "By the way…I would like to meet your class tomorrow."

Luna rushed to shake her head in response once she heard that. "I don't want anyone to get starstruck. I'm already a popular figure, you know." She sipped the last of her soup then pointed a thumb to herself. "I defeated the latest training dummy without breaking a sweat. It could adapt to my style by the way," she winked.

Suddenly, stars appeared in Len's eyes as she quickly put down her bowl and grasped Luna by the shoulders, excitement evident on her face. She had already pieced everything together. "You were learning a new style, weren't you? What's it called?"

"Dancing Maiden." She answered, hiding her pride like a pro. Ah, it felt good feeling like the older sister. Truthfully speaking, Luna was always the more mature one. While Len was only mature when surrounded by people. It was amazing that no one saw through her perfect mask of maturity.

Without saying anything else, Luna left her seat and walked to a certain pair of metallic doors leading to the training room. She placed her hand on the small screen on the left. 'Lena is a genius. I'm sure she'll master it after a few exercises.'

After a small beep, the doors slid open to reveal a large brightly lit room. It was as large as a small karate dojo but with walls of synthetic steel and a floor made of synthetic enchanted self-repair wood.

When Luna first saw this room, she was impressed by the effort the academy had put in to make sure the professors stayed in top shape by giving them these rooms. Every professor in the academy had some form of combat ability to back them up so training was necessary.

This was her training room, perfectly designed to withstand her strength as she was told. It was recently when her clan decided to reinforce the structure and she hadn't tested them out yet.

"Is Han-shoo really an academy? Damn...." Lena walked in, her gaze scanning the room with excitement and awe. Her silver hair glistened under the room's lighting. And her pale skin glowed beautifully. If she was in her armor she would probably be looking like a goddess, right?

'I have pale skin too.' Luna scowled mentally. The little jealousy she felt for her sister was back.

"I will teach you the Dancing Maiden. I'm sure you've heard or read about back at the sect."

Len nodded. "Yes, I have. Though I've heard it's a complicated technique and hard to master. Only about thirty humans in the world can use it."

"Thirty-two if you count me and yourself." Luna grinned. The reason why it was complicated was simple; the current form of the sword style was rather weak compared to its past version. Bodies changed, but the style stayed. No one bothered to change it because they wished to stay true to the one who created the style in the first place…

Tai Hae, the Dancing Maiden.

According to Feng's database, she was a swordsman from hundreds of years ago. Tai Hae was a beautiful courtesan known for her genius, beauty, purity, and talent for sword dancing. Her art was said to be mesmerizing and later deadly when she evolved her dancing art to a deadly form of combat.

The transition was easy and became perfect when she passed it down to her children. Luna was not sure why Tai Hae turned her sword dance into a sword technique, but it was her technique that created The Tai clan, which ruled great cities in Asia long ago. Currently, the clan was long gone and its descendants had been absorbed and eaten away by other clans thanks to intermarriage and the growth of science.

"I will teach it to you. The key is to let your body adapt to style. Through that, you can grab hold of its essence and make it yours."

She picked up a staff and got into a unique position. Her legs were apart and both hands were gripped on the wooden staff.

Lena summoned a replica of a wooden staff using Zenshi. That staff alone could be used to flip a truck with ease. Luckily, Luna's weapons were not just cheap wood. Each weapon contained a power crystal that powered the plasma energy that kept it sturdy and stiff.

Luna's narrowed her eyes as she entered a clear state of mind. With a brief sigh, Luna proceeded to burst into a familiar type of footwork that surprised Lena almost immediately.