October 23rd. The day Lisa Brenner set foot inside New York was the same day America announced its naval blockade of Cuba, in order to deal with Soviet missiles that were stationed on the island next to America. From this point on, the relations between these two behemoths would likely only deteriorate. One wrong move and a third world war may be on the horizon. What kind of order would Valeria Trifa give? If mankind were to burn themselves to the ground, all would be for naught, would he tell them something unfitting such as to go save the world? Or is he so certain it would never lead to a nuclear war? It is as if he has a clock on display that displays the time mankind has left until the end of time, as he stares at it with his cold eyes. The clock's hand can easily be swayed by mankind's actions, and when it hits midnight, mankind would end. The Obsidian Round Table can easily influence this hand's movements, but as long as individuals such as them have such stronger wills than the masses, this clock that displays the end of time holds little meaning. When Lord Heydrich's Day of Wrath finally comes, this clock would be turned into a piece of trash. The day He finally returns as a man, not just mankind, but those of the Obsidian Round Table too would come to experience the unknown.
Lisa Brenner swallowed her feelings of disgust and unease and walked about the city. She is one of the few Obsidian Round Table members who still has intuition close to that of a normal person, but she is not taking a stroll in order to get away from those feelings of disgust and unease, no. To be precise, she only continues to embrace her sins. To be less precise, she is a hypocrite. Lisa Brenner is a woman who is full of these disgusting traits.
This is one of New York's general hospitals, located right in its center. It performs not only internal medicine and surgeries, but also employs specialists from overseas, actively taking applications for surgeons. Its lobby is filled with people, and walking through it means passing by a lot of patients and staff. Lisa arrived at the agreed upon hospital room at just the right time.
Ah, if it isn't Babylon! What a surprise.
The hospital's director greeted her, using her alias.
I'm more surprised by what you're wearing.
Really? But it looks good on me, right?
Rusalka enthusiastically looked at her own outfit, following Lisa's remarks. The girl who sat in the luxurious director's chair wore a tight fit nurse's outfit. At least the intention here is to look like a genuine nurse.
Not like anybody's complaining! Well, not like they can anyway...
Rusalka has become this hospital's director. Of course, she did not do so through legitimate means, but by using her magical powers to set up a barrier and brainwash the staff. It has been a while since their chance meeting with Monroe at that hotel, and Rusalka has seized this hospital with a clear objective in mind.
Besides ~ You're not one to talk in your nun's clothing...
Rusalka stared at Lisa, who wore a habit. While typically a rather proper and tidy outfit, Lisa's curvy figure made it hard for her to hold back her sex appeal, even in these clothes. Her large breasts, slim waist and her glasses, if anything, served to add a touch of seductiveness to her look.
I've been meaning to tell you, but you still look way too obscene like that. Almost looks uncomfortable to walk in...
True obscenity is not just a special physical trait, life itself must also be obscene, as people cannot come together without it. Lisa Brenner's alias, Babylon, is not just for show.
These are the documents Spinne asked me to give you.
Lisa ignored Rusalka's rude comment and handed a thin sealed document to her. Rusalka stared at the document, her desk in the director's office already had plenty piled up. Without looking away from the letter, Rusalka made small talk with Lisa.
I asked Spinne, so I figured he’d bring them himself... He’s sure getting all high and mighty.
Spinne has a lot going on, including things like this, so this particular case probably isn’t on top of his shopping list.
Hmmm, then you must have free time.
I have my own things to take care of, the time for them just hasn’t come yet.
Spinne is in charge of intel and finances. As the bridge between the Obsidian Round Table and society, he has been very active as a jack of all trades ever since the war ended. Lisa on the other hand, has not been appointed a task yet because it is not yet her time. Currently she simply runs errands for the Divine Vessel.
You’re right! But this time I really thought he’d bring it in person... You know, ‘cause this is New York?
Bey is a given, but how is Spinne connected to New York?
You know, he’s a spider. Spiders have a thing for New York. Here, take a look at this comic that came out this summer, it’s selling really well.
Lisa scanned through the comic book handed to her by Rusalka. Its main character was a young man who had gained superpowers like a spider, he wore a fitting costume. The young boy who had used his superpowers for his own happiness had made light of others, and as a result he is in regret of having lost someone dear to him. It was a story filled with fitting youthful radiance, and matching youthful sadness.
It’s so original, isn’t it? The red-blue tights, the fact that he’s young but not cocky, but still also standing up for himself... But more than anything, I almost can’t bear seeing him in such pain, I might end up buying the next issue...
(So he doesn’t expect to be rewarded for his deeds...)
Lisa managed to swallow these words.
Yes, it’s well written.
Lisa praised the story, but the part that connected with her was different than Rusalka’s.
With great power comes great responsibility.
These words were uttered in the final scene, and they pierced Lisa’s heart. With great power comes a great curse, Lisa knew this very well. If there were to be a next issue, she wished at least for him to be rewarded.
In a dark alley in New York City, late at night, a woman is being robbed!
Hand over yer' money!
The woman reveals the contents of her bag as commanded. In this back alley, there are no cops, the woman is helpless. But the city's saviour is already aware of the situation! He swings around the buildings using his metal wires. Again, there he goes! Truly, the way he moves, so fast he may as well be flying, so elastic it even surpasses flight, he leaps above New York's cityscape. The saviour lands behind the robber without making a sound.
Uwaaaaaaaa!!!
Right after, the robber's body is wrapped in wire and cut into six pieces. Long arms and legs and a slender body, the saviour introduces himself with a smile slowly creeping onto his face.
It's your friendly neighbourhood Rot Spinne!
Kyaaaaaa!
The woman's scream is much louder this time than when she was being robbed.
A middle-aged man who resembles a spider, and a young man who has spider powers. As a result of the overuse of said keyword, a terrible scene unfolded in Lisa’s mind.
You just imagined something crazy, didn’t you?
Rusalka asked Lisa, who made a bitter face.
I did not!
Lisa shook her head and tossed that unexplainable image from before away.
Uhuh, I see. So anyway, have you seen the contents of these documents?
I haven't.
Then you ought to take a look. It's sure gonna change the way you view the news, it's quite moving, really... Brave, if anything.
Lisa checked the contents of the documents she handed to Rusalka. For the most part, the documents listed information about the logistics of goods and placement of agents, but the language and dates used were all over the place. There were even some documents from their beloved Nazi Germany in there.
So much for a Third World War, or a Cold War for that matter... How despicable, they're pretending to claw at each other, while in reality they're teaming up to face a common enemy. Maybe they're afraid now that they know we live, or maybe they just want to become more like us... Either way, they're fully prepared now.
It was not just the holy relics that used to belong to Ahnenerbe that Rusalka was investigating, the conspiring countries all provided large amounts of new holy relics and funds to the operation.
They really collected everything and anything that could trace back to us, huh...
Lisa turned the pages expressionlessly. She was now looking at documents relating to the Lebensborn association. The organisation, originally established after World War I to protect the German population increase and pure-bloodedness, had transformed into an inhuman organisation that tried to create geniuses and superhumans. The research data coming out of these experiments, along with information about those associated with it, had found their way to the rest of the world in secret.
Thoughts?
None in particular...
Lisa remained expressionless even after Rusalka's question. She was once a member of the organisation Lebensborn, the person responsible for orchestrating its fall from grace. Surely there must have been emotions swirling around inside her heart, yet she remained completely calm.
While she appears graceful and happy, Lisa Brenner's personality is stubborn. She is not the rival of Eleonore Von Wittenburg just for show. If anything, Lisa, the one who looks far easier to manage than Eleonore, who looks tough on first sight, may be the more wicked one of the two. She overcomes her troubles with strong force of will, and the regrets and hypocrisies she carries with her have become ingrained into her being.
If I had any outstanding thoughts, it'd be the fact that some of these resources were leaked not after the war, but during the war...
It just means people weren't as fond of us as we thought they were. We didn't even realize what Eichmann was up to either...
You mean Adolf Eichmann? Did he really...?
Yep! He only ever swore allegiance to the Reinhard Heydrich who was the head of the Gestapo, not the head of the Longinus Dreizen Orden. His testimony against us may have even been part of the plan all along. Like a start signal...
Even Lord Heydrich's most loyal follower had a different agenda. All things considered, ever since the founding of the Longinus Dreizehn Orden, its members have been devouring the sanity and power of many people around them. Formally, even the leaders of Nazi Germany, Himmer and the Führer, feared Lord Heydrich and the Longinus Dreizen Orden. With this growing fear and envy towards them, it comes as no surprise that people started plotting against the Obsidian Round Table even during the war.
I was under the impression that America simply started collecting things we deemed worthless, but look at them now, all worldwide. Isn't this nice? It feels great to be the bad guy. 'Cause, even the Soviet Union is in on this! Their pride basically went and disappeared. This is the best!
If I will be hated and envied, it had better be good. If I will be pushed to the brink, I had better laugh last. Rusalka now has both positive and negative memories of her time as a witch, but she has taken pride in that.
But now that they know we exist, wouldn't it be easier for them to attack in a more upfront way?
Rusalka answered Lisa's question.
There are probably way too many people in charge. They want to pretend we don't exist, but they also want to destroy us. It's all become so complicated, they can't mobilize their forces properly, don't you think? I also doubt every single one of them knows about us, this isn't a comic book, I'm sure the current cold war and nuclear threats have them and their loved ones more than occupied. Considering how hard it is to gather a bunch of major leaders to work together, this will never work.
Too many captains will steer the ship up a mountain. That is, having too many people in charge has made the system defect. To a colony that now has its own will, there is strength but also weakness in numbers.
Oh, and then there are also those who want to follow our lead and become like us.
Like the witches from before...
Lisa had already heard the news, including the poor imitations of them that were left behind.
I've done a lot of research on them, having a sample at my disposal really is a game changer. Have a look...
Rusalka stood up, the reason she placed the hospital under her command was to study this sample. Lisa called out to Rusalka, who was about to leave the office.
What about Valkyrie? Isn't she here?
Lisa noticed Beatrice was missing.
She's taking a break. Something about needing time to think. That girl tends to get hot-headed anyway, so this type of work isn't really suited for her anyway, no matter how hard she tries...
Beatrice cannot do the things Rusalka can, and likewise, Rusalka cannot understand what she is going through right now. This needs the right person on the right job.
Ah, I see.
Lisa was relieved.
Oh, and it's not because she doesn't want to see your face... I didn't tell her you'd come anyway, but lately she'd get all upset by even hearing your name. She even witnessed this huge orgy that resembled Babylon's office, so she gets a little sensitive.
Lisa's expression turned gloomy after Rusalka's rude comment. Beatrice has been keeping her distance from Lisa, to the point of never even speaking nor talking to her. She has come to continue Lisa and Eleonore's unique relationship in an odd way.
Well that's fine, I'd like to avoid any unnecessary drama.
Lisa easily accepted Beatrice's distant behaviour, though she is the subordinate of her comrade, like a little sister. If the person in question does not want to talk, then so be it. Rusalka snickered at the sight of Lisa's determination.
The first time she passed the hotdog owner, he smiled at her.
The next time she passed him, he looked confused.
The third time, he looked scared.
The fourth time, he had simply vanished.
Beatrice sat down on a bench, realizing why. She was never out of breath, nor sweating at all. Her performance sprinting a course of over 10 kilometers long is no longer a matter of training, just extraordinary. If this had been way back then, before she joined the Longinus Dreizehn Orden, then of course she would be exhausted. She would remember jogging until she threw up, following her beloved superior's back and being told she did well. These memories, along with the actual feeling of accomplishment are now a thing of the past.
That kind of weakness felt awfully nostalgic to her right now. However, just the other day, she suffered an actual wound for the first time in a long time, and it made her feel a sense of weakness again. Checking on her already mostly healed wound, Beatrice remembered the fight at the hotel, and the eerie feeling Rusalka mentioned. This eerie feeling would return each time she clashed blades with the eyepatched woman.
When they fought, she felt a strange disturbance in her intended movements. When compared to Wilhelm and Schreiber yelling their lungs out whenever they went at each other, this was not nearly as violent. But the disturbance seeped into her being in a very tangible way, and each time, she would miss her fatal attacks and almost take those of her opponent head on. It had to somehow be part of the eyepatched woman's ability.
But even then, there was another mystery. Even if the eyepatched woman had strange powers and an Ahnenerbe that was capable of hurting Beatrice, her physical strength was not all that great. Normally, she would be able to overpower her with no trouble... But her swordsmanship skills did not allow that, even in that ridiculous getup of hers. Her skills were refined, and in a way even resembled Beatrice's. Perhaps her sudden desire to train again has been an unconcious result of her fight with the eyepatched woman.
Monroe wants to become a member of the Obsidian Round Table, even if she has to kill others. Would that not mean that the eyepatched woman is aiming to kill Beatrice and take her place? It seems she is more specialized in fighting Beatrice than she is generally skilled. This must be the reason Beatrice is at such a loss right now, the eyepatched woman's blade simply matched her own too well. Beatrice has thought highly of many people that stood above her, but she has never had many people who looked up to her.
This is almost embarassing...
This feeling of the unknown, and her very unknown opponent's skills have managed to light a faint flame in her heart. One that had been dormant for tens of years until now.
Rusalka comfortably opened a steel door that stood much taller than herself.
Ah, I could do without this stench... Babylon, you must love it though, right? Ah, get out! Did you get wet? ~
I did not...
The place Rusalka brought Lisa to was the morgue below the hospital. The morgue had rows of smaller doors lined up along the wall, each serving as a cryopreservation cabinet for storing corpses. These corpses no longer had the ability to complain, resulting in this questionable way of storing them. There was one corpse in the center of the room, however, that was too large to fit inside a cabinet. And so it had to be put down over multiple tables connected together.
Is that a cow? Wait, an elephant... A hippo?
You should've stopped at elephant, give it some credit. Hippo is just a little...
Rusalka interrupted Lisa's abusive comments. The large corpse in the center of the morgue belonged to the executioner Rusalka lunged all the way to the lobby of the hotel. Most of the survivors of that event, including the stripper, were shredded to pieces. But the executioner fell all the way down and so her corpse remained.
Carrying that thing here was a huge chore, you know? I prepared a place to examine it, ended up being this place. I had to go through great lengths to carry this hippo here, 'cause it really is big. I vented a little and accidentally nailed the hotel's staff... Though the place was empty anyway, so I had a clear path. Guess it's no problem...
Apparently, the hotel's history, status and traditions were worthless enough to Rusalka to destroy in a fit of rage. Then again, the hotel's lifespan had probably already reached its finale from the moment the witches entered it.
Lisa examined the body. Its frame was too large to have been attained via strength training alone. It is clear that she was experimented on to give her a body like this.
Has to be...
And as she thought, on the executioner's head there were multiple scars that could only be from surgery. Rusalka continued her explanation.
Not only is her Anterior pituitary dislocated, they even implanted a tube so they could administer growth agents. This girl's brimming with hormones.
Because of the excessive secretion of these hormones, the executioner has shown impressive growth, a phenonenon that's also called gigantism. There are cases of other people using steroids to achieve a similar effect, but that usually ends up weakening their bones, affecting their heart and generally not going the way they want. If the executioner is such an example of manmade strengthening, then it definitely is a successful one.
Lebensborn attempted surgical operations like these back in the day, but they always failed.
I wonder if technology today has advanced that much, or perhaps failure after failure has finally yielded good results, we'll never know... These witches sure are tenacious though, I'd almost respect them.
This involves more than just magic. This is about medical science, drugs and superpowers. Created from all kinds of science, technology, things the Longinus Dreizehn Orden left behind, whatever they could get their hands on. That is what Monroe and the witches are, what modern witches are.
But wouldn't they be complete amateurs, then?
Even with an Ahnenerbe, if there is no solid connection between it and its wielder, they would not be able to inflict damage to members of the Obsidian Round Table. Superpowers and steroids are no substitute for Ewigkeit.
Rusalka showed Lisa a container.
What's this?
It contained the stripper's revolvers. The stripper herself disappeared along with the hands in her stomach, but her beloved weapons remained unharmed.
A Colt M1877. These weapons were favoured by many legendary gunmen during the American Frontier, including Billy the Kid. I don't know whose these really are, but it's no doubt a true American Ahnenerbe. You can tell the killcount on these is high just by looking at them.
I'm no expert on guns or Ahnenerben, but are they supposed to be rotting?
The revolvers inside the container had started to rot. And it was not rust, it was more like the rotting of human flesh. They gave off a horrid stench, and slowly rotted away. If they weren't submerged in Formalin, they probably would no longer look like guns at all.
Where the Ewigkeit formula connects people to their Ahnenerbe using their soul, the witches' formula instead forms a physical connection between them. So if we see this Ahnenerbe as an extension of its owner's body, with the owner dead the Ahnenerbe itself will rot just like her.
Looking back, all of Monroe's witches either pulled their Ahnenerbe from their own bodies, or made them appear from their mouths, their Ahnenerbe had become one with their bodies. Where Ewigkeit makes Ahnenerben cling to their owners, Monroe and her witches have devoted their bodies to theirs, and cling to them instead.
How is that any different from an Amalgamation Type?
Rusalka and Lisa belong to the Conjuration Type, Beatrice is an Arms Type and anything that does not fall into any of those three categories or simply exhibits more than one special trait is an Anomaly Type. The shape of someone's Ahnenerbe changes depending on the characteristics and nature of its owner, these are the four possible categories it can take. Among them, Wilhelm, Schreiber and even Spinne's weapons take a form that is the most integrated with their own bodies: Amalgamation Type.
That one is pretty messed up, true, but no. It's worse. If we view the Amalgamation Type as a custom fit suit, what we have here is simply a bunch of cloth wrapped around the wearer, pretending to be clothing. Even calling it a formula is honestly giving it too much credit.
Perhaps it was because of her pride as one who deals with magic, Rusalka's tone was very harsh.
So mixing man and machine, reminds me of Project Philadelphia...
This Project Philadelphia that Lisa mentioned refers to an experiment on people that was performed on the USS Eldridge in the midst of World War II. Under the pretense of attempting to develop stealth technology using Tesla coils, the crew of the ship found themselves in strange situations after the experiment. Death, insanity, bodies bursting into flames, bodies freezing, body parts merging with the ship itself, and many other strange occurrences.
Project Philadelphia remains an urban legend, but what if these experiments had actually taken place? What if it had been an attempt to become more like those under the effect of Ewigkeit?
Us Obsidian Round Table members have treaded the Assiah, Yetzirah and Beri'ah stages, but this formula of theirs forcibly pushes them onto the Yetzirah stage, and no further.
There are stages to Ewigkeit based on the user's eptitude with their Ahnenerbe. First up is the stage where the user can fundamentally harness the powers of their Ahnenerbe, the first stage: AssiahActivation. At this stage, the user walks their first steps as a superhuman, the risk of losing control at this stage is relatively high. It takes talent to reach this stage.
The second stage: YetzirahFormation, lets the user physically use the powers of their Ahnenerbe. It is at this stage that the user can reach a level of power befitting of a one-man army. This stage serves as the bare minimum stage among members of the Obsidian Round Table. For Lisa and Spinne, this is the highest stage they have reached.
Then the third stage: Beri'ahCreation lets the user realize their deepest desire and paint the world with their own rules and wishes. Once the Beri'ah stage is reached, neither the laws of physics nor common sense will stand in the user's way. The majority of the Obsidian Round Table, including Rusalka and Beatrice, have reached this stage.
There is one more stage above that: AtziluthEmanation. Current, no member of the Obsidian Round Table has reached this stage, and the only possible candidates for it are the current two commanders. It is said to make even the Beri'ah stage look like child's play.
They only barely managed to reach the point where they can properly use their Ahnenerbe as a weapon. Their physical abilities are far from superhuman, and they can never reach Beri'ah. What they lack, they try to make up for with shoddy magic, makeshift superpowers and science. It doesn't compare with Ewigkeit at all. Aah, so disgusting. I never expected anything like this from the US or the Soviet Union, with their almost infinite supply of soldiers and battleships...
Instead of creating superhumans of the same caliber, they decided to mass produce witches that can deal a blow to them instead. If they cannot have Ewigkeit, they will simply find another way to match them. It is disgusting yet admirable.
Rusalka mentioned a special case among these witches.
But only Monroe is different...
During the second World War, the German army with their relatively modestly sized army had plenty of ace soldiers, whereas the United States, with their far larger army, had only few. Though they still had their Richard Bong and their Chuck Yeager. The point being; Monroe is the United States' ace of today.
Is that really the real Marilyn Monroe? I honestly find it hard to believe...
We know too little to say for sure, but there are two things I can say with confidence. The first being that there's a possibility she has already reached the Beri'ah stage, although she would still be no different from the others, forcibly holding onto that stage... And the second...
Rusalka stopped for a moment, then whispered as if spitting out an ugly truth.
...the second being that the basis for her Beri'ah, her desire, is a far more vulgar and wretched one that any one of us has.
Mornings are when she validates herself.
I am Monroe. I am Monroe. I am Norma. I am Ellie. That's right. I am Monroe.
I am a little devil who can lead even the president around by the nose, the greatest superstar to ever live, Marilyn Monroe.
She gets out of bed by these words. This is not a joke, this is her sincere effort and belief. And if she does not keep telling herself this, the little voices inside of her will call her by a different name. She put on her makeup, as superstars do, and headed out for her pre-breakfast walk.
Monroe lives in a mansion by the coast. Its value surpassing even that of the White House, this mansion boasts a level of luxury like no other in the country. She used to love going for walks around the coast, but lately battleships have started passing by, much to her distaste. As a result, her walks have now become much shorter. Although if there was one thing she still enjoyed, it was watching the young woman training with her blade by the beach.
She wore an eyepatch and swung her blade around with passion. Even with blood starting to cover her body, she did not waver. Even with her blood starting to cover the sand, she continued her training. Beatrice Kircheisen was a much better knight than she had anticipated, she could feel a powerful aspiration coming from her sharpened blade every time they clashed. Even with all her anti-Beatrice training, she could not win. If she hadn't taken a multitude of drugs before that fight, she would have likely been killed on the spot.
That is why she trains. Her body is already past its limits, the only way for her to survive is to create an open spot in the Obsidian Round Table and to receive the blessing of Ewigkeit. But her effort is not going towards that goal, it is so that she can come closer to Beatrice, you can tell simply by looking at her.
Don't overdo it.
...
She simply nodded at Monroe's feedback, not even stopping her training for a second. Not even Monroe has ever heard her speak before.
As Monroe walked around the backside of the mansion, she stepped into an underground facility. This facility is the witches' den, and Monroe's go-to place to get breakfast. As she greeted the staff and other witches good morning, she headed into the mess hall. Preparations for breakfast had already been made.
Good morning!
The head of breakfast greeted Monroe.
Good morning, what will we be having today?
We've received a group of illegal immigrants from the border police.
A group of men and women, young and old, were gathered into the room ahead. How would these people, with the state they are in, possibly plan on getting past the border? People do unimaginable things when desperate. Not that it mattered, the variety in ages between these people more than mustered up Monroe's appetite.
Then without further ado...
Monroe moved her hand, and the front half of the nearest young person was ripped right off. With her left hand, she finished up the remaining organs and meat that were now fully exposed. The victim's soul was absorbed by Monroe, but that was not important to her right now. The important part was the taste, the young man's fine and hardened muscles had a rich flavour to them. Each time she moved her hand, she could taste the deliciousness. Her lips definitely did feel something.
Monroe's hands are her mouths, and her fingers her teeth. She does not shred her victims, she eats them. Young people, old people, mothers, children, they were all the same to her. When people eat meat, they do not consider what kind of cow they are eating when thinking about the taste. She is the hunter, and everyone else is her prey, this is a clear line that has now been drawn between Monroe and other people.
Thanks for the meal.
Five minutes had passed and the room was now empty. Only traces remained of the tens of people that were sitting there before, they would now find themselves in Monroe's slim stomach. She had probably eaten the lady who provisioned her meal by accident as well, but that did not matter, she can be replaced. She was nothing more than just another expendable staff member anyway. Monroe is blessed after all, she can have whatever she wants.
...but if she is so blessed, then why would she ever leave her home country?
Well, things are getting more and more tense every day and...
But wars are super scary!
From inside her stomach came uninvited comments. After all, she only just ate, and cannot immediately digest it all. In a panic, Monroe started talking to herself again:
I am the real deal. I remember my love affair with the son of the King of Comedy, I remember going to Japan with my Major League husband, I remember holding my skirt down as the wind from the subway came blowing from below. I remember it all.
The blessed witch wiped her mouth and left the mess hall.
After hearing Rusalka's reasoning, Lisa could now understand why Rusalka thought of Monroe as so vile.
Her desire is nothing more than gluttony. She is a beast that eats souls and flesh alike, to the point you'd think of us as perfectly normal, simply atrocious. I don't know what kind of Ahnenerbe she uses, but I'm sure it's got something to do with cannibalism.
Schreiber and Wilhelm kill out of impetus, Rusalka kills for fun. Most members of the Obsidian Round Table kill people and eat their souls. But however sadistic they may be, none have ever engaged in cannibalism. None have an appetite for human flesh. Even if flesh dances around as they kill, they do not consume it. That very difference puts Monroe on the other side of the spectrum. To a third party, this may seem like the difference between Shura and Rakshasa, but to the people in question, the difference is huge.
But her lust for souls is greater than ours, top class even. She took the souls Beatrice and I should've gotten right out of our hands, although she's still lacking in certain aspects in that department.
Like what?
Basically her digestation system.
The essence of Ewigkeit is the usage of souls as a form of fuel. But Monroe's digestation is weak, so the souls she digests are only left in a half-digested state in her stomach. Instead of properly turning souls into her fuel, she leaves them doomed to exist in her stomach. When Rusalka inspected Monroe for her colour, the dark and ugly colour she saw came from the slight traces of colour that the souls she had not properly digested emitted.
This way, the souls inside of her all influence her memories and her very being, and she will slowly forget who she really is. She bites off more than she can chew, she'd be better off taking after Schreiber.
So does that mean she's not the real Monroe? But simply ate her corpse and took plastic surgery to come off as the real thing?
Who knows... It's also possible she truly is the real Marilyn Monroe who ate too much and is losing sight of who she really is. That thing has now become one big nest of identities, very befitting of this country.
Nothing more than a mass of people with no strong leader, like a mob. Rusalka's clash against Monroe, among witches, has truly become a set piece of the Longinus Dreizehn Orden vs the world.
So what will you do now, Babylon? Surely this won't end at a delivery job for Spinne, right? Take that comic book from before with you for the road home, at least.
I'd love to help, but I'm not combat-oriented.
Ah, so you didn't bring him... Well then there's nothing that can be done. Ah, is there anything on who's in charge of this now? Do I have to take Beatrice into account, or can I just do whatever I want? It makes a difference.
The Divine Vessel has ordered that Rusalka Schwägelin is in command of this operation.
I respectfully accept the honours. The Father knows what he's doing, as expected of the acting commander.
Rusalka is in good spirits. This is the best possible way things can go from here: exactly the way she wants them to. She had no other choice but to count on Valeria Trifa's intuition, and it paid off.
Lisa felt odd seeing Rusalka in such high spirits. Rusalka is a selfish person, never tainting her hands when unneccesary, and only ever picking the tasty parts. She has that very human straightforwardness to her. That is why this behaviour of hers is weird. Standing on the front lines by herself, not trying to push anything onto others... Even if the enemy carries a large amount of delicious souls, she is not the type to act like some courageous leader who takes on the world by herself for the spoils of war. does it bother her that much that there are other witches walking about? Or is there something they did that was so unforgivable?
This is a conflict between women, we men would not dare intervene...
The voice of the Divine Vessel came back to her, surely the reason he gave Rusalka permission to lead the operation by herself is because he understands why she is acting so strangely. He also had one last command for Rusalka, for all three of them...
Shall we begin?
Lisa spoke to Rusalka, who looked like a fish who'd just found a pond.
I will now recite the Divine Vessel's command, this will be a command for all of us, so I'd like you to pass it on to Valkyrie too.
After taking a breath, Lisa recited the command from the Divine Vessel, and from One even further above.
Make yourselves known.
Rusalka shivered at the order she had already heard once before. The acting commander Valeria Trifa had repeated the order Reinhard Heydrich had given them tens of years before.
Then I shall endulge like only a demon would.
Then I shall tame the mob as I see fit.
Then I shall bring about hell so that no one will ever forget.
Sieg heil!
Sieg heil!
Victory is within our grasp
Both Rusalka and Lisa exclaimed this phrase at the same time. This was the moment the Longinus Dreizehn Orden made the blessed witch and her home country their enemy.
October 23rd. The day Lisa Brenner set foot inside New York was the same day America announced its naval blockade of Cuba, in order to deal with Soviet missiles that were stationed on the island next to America. From this point on, the relations between these two behemoths would likely only deteriorate. One wrong move and a third world war may be on the horizon. What kind of order would Valeria Trifa give? If mankind were to burn themselves to the ground, all would be for naught, would he tell them something unfitting such as to go save the world? Or is he so certain it would never lead to a nuclear war? It is as if he has a clock on display that displays the time mankind has left until the end of time, as he stares at it with his cold eyes. The clock's hand can easily be swayed by mankind's actions, and when it hits midnight, mankind would end. The Obsidian Round Table can easily influence this hand's movements, but as long as individuals such as them have such stronger wills than the masses, this clock that displays the end of time holds little meaning. When Lord Heydrich's Day of Wrath finally comes, this clock would be turned into a piece of trash. The day He finally returns as a man, not just mankind, but those of the Obsidian Round Table too would come to experience the unknown.
Lisa Brenner swallowed her feelings of disgust and unease and walked about the city. She is one of the few Obsidian Round Table members who still has intuition close to that of a normal person, but she is not taking a stroll in order to get away from those feelings of disgust and unease, no. To be precise, she only continues to embrace her sins. To be less precise, she is a hypocrite. Lisa Brenner is a woman who is full of these disgusting traits.
This is one of New York's general hospitals, located right in its center. It performs not only internal medicine and surgeries, but also employs specialists from overseas, actively taking applications for surgeons. Its lobby is filled with people, and walking through it means passing by a lot of patients and staff. Lisa arrived at the agreed upon hospital room at just the right time.
Ah, if it isn't Babylon! What a surprise.
The hospital's director greeted her, using her alias.
I'm more surprised by what you're wearing.
Really? But it looks good on me, right?
Rusalka enthusiastically looked at her own outfit, following Lisa's remarks. The girl who sat in the luxurious director's chair wore a tight fit nurse's outfit. At least the intention here is to look like a genuine nurse.
Not like anybody's complaining! Well, not like they can anyway...
Rusalka has become this hospital's director. Of course, she did not do so through legitimate means, but by using her magical powers to set up a barrier and brainwash the staff. It has been a while since their chance meeting with Monroe at that hotel, and Rusalka has seized this hospital with a clear objective in mind.
Besides ~ You're not one to talk in your nun's clothing...
Rusalka stared at Lisa, who wore a habit. While typically a rather proper and tidy outfit, Lisa's curvy figure made it hard for her to hold back her sex appeal, even in these clothes. Her large breasts, slim waist and her glasses, if anything, served to add a touch of seductiveness to her look.
I've been meaning to tell you, but you still look way too obscene like that. Almost looks uncomfortable to walk in...
True obscenity is not just a special physical trait, life itself must also be obscene, as people cannot come together without it. Lisa Brenner's alias, Babylon, is not just for show.
These are the documents Spinne asked me to give you.
Lisa ignored Rusalka's rude comment and handed a thin sealed document to her. Rusalka stared at the document, her desk in the director's office already had plenty piled up. Without looking away from the letter, Rusalka made small talk with Lisa.
I asked Spinne, so I figured he’d bring them himself... He’s sure getting all high and mighty.
Spinne has a lot going on, including things like this, so this particular case probably isn’t on top of his shopping list.
Hmmm, then you must have free time.
I have my own things to take care of, the time for them just hasn’t come yet.
Spinne is in charge of intel and finances. As the bridge between the Obsidian Round Table and society, he has been very active as a jack of all trades ever since the war ended. Lisa on the other hand, has not been appointed a task yet because it is not yet her time. Currently she simply runs errands for the Divine Vessel.
You’re right! But this time I really thought he’d bring it in person... You know, ‘cause this is New York?
Bey is a given, but how is Spinne connected to New York?
You know, he’s a spider. Spiders have a thing for New York. Here, take a look at this comic that came out this summer, it’s selling really well.
Lisa scanned through the comic book handed to her by Rusalka. Its main character was a young man who had gained superpowers like a spider, he wore a fitting costume. The young boy who had used his superpowers for his own happiness had made light of others, and as a result he is in regret of having lost someone dear to him. It was a story filled with fitting youthful radiance, and matching youthful sadness.
It’s so original, isn’t it? The red-blue tights, the fact that he’s young but not cocky, but still also standing up for himself... But more than anything, I almost can’t bear seeing him in such pain, I might end up buying the next issue...
(So he doesn’t expect to be rewarded for his deeds...)
Lisa managed to swallow these words.
Yes, it’s well written.
Lisa praised the story, but the part that connected with her was different than Rusalka’s.
With great power comes great responsibility.
These words were uttered in the final scene, and they pierced Lisa’s heart. With great power comes a great curse, Lisa knew this very well. If there were to be a next issue, she wished at least for him to be rewarded.
In a dark alley in New York City, late at night, a woman is being robbed!
Hand over yer' money!
The woman reveals the contents of her bag as commanded. In this back alley, there are no cops, the woman is helpless. But the city's saviour is already aware of the situation! He swings around the buildings using his metal wires. Again, there he goes! Truly, the way he moves, so fast he may as well be flying, so elastic it even surpasses flight, he leaps above New York's cityscape. The saviour lands behind the robber without making a sound.
Uwaaaaaaaa!!!
Right after, the robber's body is wrapped in wire and cut into six pieces. Long arms and legs and a slender body, the saviour introduces himself with a smile slowly creeping onto his face.
It's your friendly neighbourhood Rot Spinne!
Kyaaaaaa!
The woman's scream is much louder this time than when she was being robbed.
A middle-aged man who resembles a spider, and a young man who has spider powers. As a result of the overuse of said keyword, a terrible scene unfolded in Lisa’s mind.
You just imagined something crazy, didn’t you?
Rusalka asked Lisa, who made a bitter face.
I did not!
Lisa shook her head and tossed that unexplainable image from before away.
Uhuh, I see. So anyway, have you seen the contents of these documents?
I haven't.
Then you ought to take a look. It's sure gonna change the way you view the news, it's quite moving, really... Brave, if anything.
Lisa checked the contents of the documents she handed to Rusalka. For the most part, the documents listed information about the logistics of goods and placement of agents, but the language and dates used were all over the place. There were even some documents from their beloved Nazi Germany in there.
So much for a Third World War, or a Cold War for that matter... How despicable, they're pretending to claw at each other, while in reality they're teaming up to face a common enemy. Maybe they're afraid now that they know we live, or maybe they just want to become more like us... Either way, they're fully prepared now.
It was not just the holy relics that used to belong to Ahnenerbe that Rusalka was investigating, the conspiring countries all provided large amounts of new holy relics and funds to the operation.
They really collected everything and anything that could trace back to us, huh...
Lisa turned the pages expressionlessly. She was now looking at documents relating to the Lebensborn association. The organisation, originally established after World War I to protect the German population increase and pure-bloodedness, had transformed into an inhuman organisation that tried to create geniuses and superhumans. The research data coming out of these experiments, along with information about those associated with it, had found their way to the rest of the world in secret.
Thoughts?
None in particular...
Lisa remained expressionless even after Rusalka's question. She was once a member of the organisation Lebensborn, the person responsible for orchestrating its fall from grace. Surely there must have been emotions swirling around inside her heart, yet she remained completely calm.
While she appears graceful and happy, Lisa Brenner's personality is stubborn. She is not the rival of Eleonore Von Wittenburg just for show. If anything, Lisa, the one who looks far easier to manage than Eleonore, who looks tough on first sight, may be the more wicked one of the two. She overcomes her troubles with strong force of will, and the regrets and hypocrisies she carries with her have become ingrained into her being.
If I had any outstanding thoughts, it'd be the fact that some of these resources were leaked not after the war, but during the war...
It just means people weren't as fond of us as we thought they were. We didn't even realize what Eichmann was up to either...
You mean Adolf Eichmann? Did he really...?
Yep! He only ever swore allegiance to the Reinhard Heydrich who was the head of the Gestapo, not the head of the Longinus Dreizen Orden. His testimony against us may have even been part of the plan all along. Like a start signal...
Even Lord Heydrich's most loyal follower had a different agenda. All things considered, ever since the founding of the Longinus Dreizehn Orden, its members have been devouring the sanity and power of many people around them. Formally, even the leaders of Nazi Germany, Himmer and the Führer, feared Lord Heydrich and the Longinus Dreizen Orden. With this growing fear and envy towards them, it comes as no surprise that people started plotting against the Obsidian Round Table even during the war.
I was under the impression that America simply started collecting things we deemed worthless, but look at them now, all worldwide. Isn't this nice? It feels great to be the bad guy. 'Cause, even the Soviet Union is in on this! Their pride basically went and disappeared. This is the best!
If I will be hated and envied, it had better be good. If I will be pushed to the brink, I had better laugh last. Rusalka now has both positive and negative memories of her time as a witch, but she has taken pride in that.
But now that they know we exist, wouldn't it be easier for them to attack in a more upfront way?
Rusalka answered Lisa's question.
There are probably way too many people in charge. They want to pretend we don't exist, but they also want to destroy us. It's all become so complicated, they can't mobilize their forces properly, don't you think? I also doubt every single one of them knows about us, this isn't a comic book, I'm sure the current cold war and nuclear threats have them and their loved ones more than occupied. Considering how hard it is to gather a bunch of major leaders to work together, this will never work.
Too many captains will steer the ship up a mountain. That is, having too many people in charge has made the system defect. To a colony that now has its own will, there is strength but also weakness in numbers.
Oh, and then there are also those who want to follow our lead and become like us.
Like the witches from before...
Lisa had already heard the news, including the poor imitations of them that were left behind.
I've done a lot of research on them, having a sample at my disposal really is a game changer. Have a look...
Rusalka stood up, the reason she placed the hospital under her command was to study this sample. Lisa called out to Rusalka, who was about to leave the office.
What about Valkyrie? Isn't she here?
Lisa noticed Beatrice was missing.
She's taking a break. Something about needing time to think. That girl tends to get hot-headed anyway, so this type of work isn't really suited for her anyway, no matter how hard she tries...
Beatrice cannot do the things Rusalka can, and likewise, Rusalka cannot understand what she is going through right now. This needs the right person on the right job.
Ah, I see.
Lisa was relieved.
Oh, and it's not because she doesn't want to see your face... I didn't tell her you'd come anyway, but lately she'd get all upset by even hearing your name. She even witnessed this huge orgy that resembled Babylon's office, so she gets a little sensitive.
Lisa's expression turned gloomy after Rusalka's rude comment. Beatrice has been keeping her distance from Lisa, to the point of never even speaking nor talking to her. She has come to continue Lisa and Eleonore's unique relationship in an odd way.
Well that's fine, I'd like to avoid any unnecessary drama.
Lisa easily accepted Beatrice's distant behaviour, though she is the subordinate of her comrade, like a little sister. If the person in question does not want to talk, then so be it. Rusalka snickered at the sight of Lisa's determination.
The first time she passed the hotdog owner, he smiled at her.
The next time she passed him, he looked confused.
The third time, he looked scared.
The fourth time, he had simply vanished.
Beatrice sat down on a bench, realizing why. She was never out of breath, nor sweating at all. Her performance sprinting a course of over 10 kilometers long is no longer a matter of training, just extraordinary. If this had been way back then, before she joined the Longinus Dreizehn Orden, then of course she would be exhausted. She would remember jogging until she threw up, following her beloved superior's back and being told she did well. These memories, along with the actual feeling of accomplishment are now a thing of the past.
That kind of weakness felt awfully nostalgic to her right now. However, just the other day, she suffered an actual wound for the first time in a long time, and it made her feel a sense of weakness again. Checking on her already mostly healed wound, Beatrice remembered the fight at the hotel, and the eerie feeling Rusalka mentioned. This eerie feeling would return each time she clashed blades with the eyepatched woman.
When they fought, she felt a strange disturbance in her intended movements. When compared to Wilhelm and Schreiber yelling their lungs out whenever they went at each other, this was not nearly as violent. But the disturbance seeped into her being in a very tangible way, and each time, she would miss her fatal attacks and almost take those of her opponent head on. It had to somehow be part of the eyepatched woman's ability.
But even then, there was another mystery. Even if the eyepatched woman had strange powers and an Ahnenerbe that was capable of hurting Beatrice, her physical strength was not all that great. Normally, she would be able to overpower her with no trouble... But her swordsmanship skills did not allow that, even in that ridiculous getup of hers. Her skills were refined, and in a way even resembled Beatrice's. Perhaps her sudden desire to train again has been an unconcious result of her fight with the eyepatched woman.
Monroe wants to become a member of the Obsidian Round Table, even if she has to kill others. Would that not mean that the eyepatched woman is aiming to kill Beatrice and take her place? It seems she is more specialized in fighting Beatrice than she is generally skilled. This must be the reason Beatrice is at such a loss right now, the eyepatched woman's blade simply matched her own too well. Beatrice has thought highly of many people that stood above her, but she has never had many people who looked up to her.
This is almost embarassing...
This feeling of the unknown, and her very unknown opponent's skills have managed to light a faint flame in her heart. One that had been dormant for tens of years until now.
Rusalka comfortably opened a steel door that stood much taller than herself.
Ah, I could do without this stench... Babylon, you must love it though, right? Ah, get out! Did you get wet? ~
I did not...
The place Rusalka brought Lisa to was the morgue below the hospital. The morgue had rows of smaller doors lined up along the wall, each serving as a cryopreservation cabinet for storing corpses. These corpses no longer had the ability to complain, resulting in this questionable way of storing them. There was one corpse in the center of the room, however, that was too large to fit inside a cabinet. And so it had to be put down over multiple tables connected together.
Is that a cow? Wait, an elephant... A hippo?
You should've stopped at elephant, give it some credit. Hippo is just a little...
Rusalka interrupted Lisa's abusive comments. The large corpse in the center of the morgue belonged to the executioner Rusalka lunged all the way to the lobby of the hotel. Most of the survivors of that event, including the stripper, were shredded to pieces. But the executioner fell all the way down and so her corpse remained.
Carrying that thing here was a huge chore, you know? I prepared a place to examine it, ended up being this place. I had to go through great lengths to carry this hippo here, 'cause it really is big. I vented a little and accidentally nailed the hotel's staff... Though the place was empty anyway, so I had a clear path. Guess it's no problem...
Apparently, the hotel's history, status and traditions were worthless enough to Rusalka to destroy in a fit of rage. Then again, the hotel's lifespan had probably already reached its finale from the moment the witches entered it.
Lisa examined the body. Its frame was too large to have been attained via strength training alone. It is clear that she was experimented on to give her a body like this.
Has to be...
And as she thought, on the executioner's head there were multiple scars that could only be from surgery. Rusalka continued her explanation.
Not only is her Anterior pituitary dislocated, they even implanted a tube so they could administer growth agents. This girl's brimming with hormones.
Because of the excessive secretion of these hormones, the executioner has shown impressive growth, a phenonenon that's also called gigantism. There are cases of other people using steroids to achieve a similar effect, but that usually ends up weakening their bones, affecting their heart and generally not going the way they want. If the executioner is such an example of manmade strengthening, then it definitely is a successful one.
Lebensborn attempted surgical operations like these back in the day, but they always failed.
I wonder if technology today has advanced that much, or perhaps failure after failure has finally yielded good results, we'll never know... These witches sure are tenacious though, I'd almost respect them.
This involves more than just magic. This is about medical science, drugs and superpowers. Created from all kinds of science, technology, things the Longinus Dreizehn Orden left behind, whatever they could get their hands on. That is what Monroe and the witches are, what modern witches are.
But wouldn't they be complete amateurs, then?
Even with an Ahnenerbe, if there is no solid connection between it and its wielder, they would not be able to inflict damage to members of the Obsidian Round Table. Superpowers and steroids are no substitute for Ewigkeit.
Rusalka showed Lisa a container.
What's this?
It contained the stripper's revolvers. The stripper herself disappeared along with the hands in her stomach, but her beloved weapons remained unharmed.
A Colt M1877. These weapons were favoured by many legendary gunmen during the American Frontier, including Billy the Kid. I don't know whose these really are, but it's no doubt a true American Ahnenerbe. You can tell the killcount on these is high just by looking at them.
I'm no expert on guns or Ahnenerben, but are they supposed to be rotting?
The revolvers inside the container had started to rot. And it was not rust, it was more like the rotting of human flesh. They gave off a horrid stench, and slowly rotted away. If they weren't submerged in Formalin, they probably would no longer look like guns at all.
Where the Ewigkeit formula connects people to their Ahnenerbe using their soul, the witches' formula instead forms a physical connection between them. So if we see this Ahnenerbe as an extension of its owner's body, with the owner dead the Ahnenerbe itself will rot just like her.
Looking back, all of Monroe's witches either pulled their Ahnenerbe from their own bodies, or made them appear from their mouths, their Ahnenerbe had become one with their bodies. Where Ewigkeit makes Ahnenerben cling to their owners, Monroe and her witches have devoted their bodies to theirs, and cling to them instead.
How is that any different from an Amalgamation Type?
Rusalka and Lisa belong to the Conjuration Type, Beatrice is an Arms Type and anything that does not fall into any of those three categories or simply exhibits more than one special trait is an Anomaly Type. The shape of someone's Ahnenerbe changes depending on the characteristics and nature of its owner, these are the four possible categories it can take. Among them, Wilhelm, Schreiber and even Spinne's weapons take a form that is the most integrated with their own bodies: Amalgamation Type.
That one is pretty messed up, true, but no. It's worse. If we view the Amalgamation Type as a custom fit suit, what we have here is simply a bunch of cloth wrapped around the wearer, pretending to be clothing. Even calling it a formula is honestly giving it too much credit.
Perhaps it was because of her pride as one who deals with magic, Rusalka's tone was very harsh.
So mixing man and machine, reminds me of Project Philadelphia...
This Project Philadelphia that Lisa mentioned refers to an experiment on people that was performed on the USS Eldridge in the midst of World War II. Under the pretense of attempting to develop stealth technology using Tesla coils, the crew of the ship found themselves in strange situations after the experiment. Death, insanity, bodies bursting into flames, bodies freezing, body parts merging with the ship itself, and many other strange occurrences.
Project Philadelphia remains an urban legend, but what if these experiments had actually taken place? What if it had been an attempt to become more like those under the effect of Ewigkeit?
Us Obsidian Round Table members have treaded the Assiah, Yetzirah and Beri'ah stages, but this formula of theirs forcibly pushes them onto the Yetzirah stage, and no further.
There are stages to Ewigkeit based on the user's eptitude with their Ahnenerbe. First up is the stage where the user can fundamentally harness the powers of their Ahnenerbe, the first stage: AssiahActivation. At this stage, the user walks their first steps as a superhuman, the risk of losing control at this stage is relatively high. It takes talent to reach this stage.
The second stage: YetzirahFormation, lets the user physically use the powers of their Ahnenerbe. It is at this stage that the user can reach a level of power befitting of a one-man army. This stage serves as the bare minimum stage among members of the Obsidian Round Table. For Lisa and Spinne, this is the highest stage they have reached.
Then the third stage: Beri'ahCreation lets the user realize their deepest desire and paint the world with their own rules and wishes. Once the Beri'ah stage is reached, neither the laws of physics nor common sense will stand in the user's way. The majority of the Obsidian Round Table, including Rusalka and Beatrice, have reached this stage.
There is one more stage above that: AtziluthEmanation. Current, no member of the Obsidian Round Table has reached this stage, and the only possible candidates for it are the current two commanders. It is said to make even the Beri'ah stage look like child's play.
They only barely managed to reach the point where they can properly use their Ahnenerbe as a weapon. Their physical abilities are far from superhuman, and they can never reach Beri'ah. What they lack, they try to make up for with shoddy magic, makeshift superpowers and science. It doesn't compare with Ewigkeit at all. Aah, so disgusting. I never expected anything like this from the US or the Soviet Union, with their almost infinite supply of soldiers and battleships...
Instead of creating superhumans of the same caliber, they decided to mass produce witches that can deal a blow to them instead. If they cannot have Ewigkeit, they will simply find another way to match them. It is disgusting yet admirable.
Rusalka mentioned a special case among these witches.
But only Monroe is different...
During the second World War, the German army with their relatively modestly sized army had plenty of ace soldiers, whereas the United States, with their far larger army, had only few. Though they still had their Richard Bong and their Chuck Yeager. The point being; Monroe is the United States' ace of today.
Is that really the real Marilyn Monroe? I honestly find it hard to believe...
We know too little to say for sure, but there are two things I can say with confidence. The first being that there's a possibility she has already reached the Beri'ah stage, although she would still be no different from the others, forcibly holding onto that stage... And the second...
Rusalka stopped for a moment, then whispered as if spitting out an ugly truth.
...the second being that the basis for her Beri'ah, her desire, is a far more vulgar and wretched one that any one of us has.
Mornings are when she validates herself.
I am Monroe. I am Monroe. I am Norma. I am Ellie. That's right. I am Monroe.
I am a little devil who can lead even the president around by the nose, the greatest superstar to ever live, Marilyn Monroe.
She gets out of bed by these words. This is not a joke, this is her sincere effort and belief. And if she does not keep telling herself this, the little voices inside of her will call her by a different name. She put on her makeup, as superstars do, and headed out for her pre-breakfast walk.
Monroe lives in a mansion by the coast. Its value surpassing even that of the White House, this mansion boasts a level of luxury like no other in the country. She used to love going for walks around the coast, but lately battleships have started passing by, much to her distaste. As a result, her walks have now become much shorter. Although if there was one thing she still enjoyed, it was watching the young woman training with her blade by the beach.
She wore an eyepatch and swung her blade around with passion. Even with blood starting to cover her body, she did not waver. Even with her blood starting to cover the sand, she continued her training. Beatrice Kircheisen was a much better knight than she had anticipated, she could feel a powerful aspiration coming from her sharpened blade every time they clashed. Even with all her anti-Beatrice training, she could not win. If she hadn't taken a multitude of drugs before that fight, she would have likely been killed on the spot.
That is why she trains. Her body is already past its limits, the only way for her to survive is to create an open spot in the Obsidian Round Table and to receive the blessing of Ewigkeit. But her effort is not going towards that goal, it is so that she can come closer to Beatrice, you can tell simply by looking at her.
Don't overdo it.
...
She simply nodded at Monroe's feedback, not even stopping her training for a second. Not even Monroe has ever heard her speak before.
As Monroe walked around the backside of the mansion, she stepped into an underground facility. This facility is the witches' den, and Monroe's go-to place to get breakfast. As she greeted the staff and other witches good morning, she headed into the mess hall. Preparations for breakfast had already been made.
Good morning!
The head of breakfast greeted Monroe.
Good morning, what will we be having today?
We've received a group of illegal immigrants from the border police.
A group of men and women, young and old, were gathered into the room ahead. How would these people, with the state they are in, possibly plan on getting past the border? People do unimaginable things when desperate. Not that it mattered, the variety in ages between these people more than mustered up Monroe's appetite.
Then without further ado...
Monroe moved her hand, and the front half of the nearest young person was ripped right off. With her left hand, she finished up the remaining organs and meat that were now fully exposed. The victim's soul was absorbed by Monroe, but that was not important to her right now. The important part was the taste, the young man's fine and hardened muscles had a rich flavour to them. Each time she moved her hand, she could taste the deliciousness. Her lips definitely did feel something.
Monroe's hands are her mouths, and her fingers her teeth. She does not shred her victims, she eats them. Young people, old people, mothers, children, they were all the same to her. When people eat meat, they do not consider what kind of cow they are eating when thinking about the taste. She is the hunter, and everyone else is her prey, this is a clear line that has now been drawn between Monroe and other people.
Thanks for the meal.
Five minutes had passed and the room was now empty. Only traces remained of the tens of people that were sitting there before, they would now find themselves in Monroe's slim stomach. She had probably eaten the lady who provisioned her meal by accident as well, but that did not matter, she can be replaced. She was nothing more than just another expendable staff member anyway. Monroe is blessed after all, she can have whatever she wants.
...but if she is so blessed, then why would she ever leave her home country?
Well, things are getting more and more tense every day and...
But wars are super scary!
From inside her stomach came uninvited comments. After all, she only just ate, and cannot immediately digest it all. In a panic, Monroe started talking to herself again:
I am the real deal. I remember my love affair with the son of the King of Comedy, I remember going to Japan with my Major League husband, I remember holding my skirt down as the wind from the subway came blowing from below. I remember it all.
The blessed witch wiped her mouth and left the mess hall.
After hearing Rusalka's reasoning, Lisa could now understand why Rusalka thought of Monroe as so vile.
Her desire is nothing more than gluttony. She is a beast that eats souls and flesh alike, to the point you'd think of us as perfectly normal, simply atrocious. I don't know what kind of Ahnenerbe she uses, but I'm sure it's got something to do with cannibalism.
Schreiber and Wilhelm kill out of impetus, Rusalka kills for fun. Most members of the Obsidian Round Table kill people and eat their souls. But however sadistic they may be, none have ever engaged in cannibalism. None have an appetite for human flesh. Even if flesh dances around as they kill, they do not consume it. That very difference puts Monroe on the other side of the spectrum. To a third party, this may seem like the difference between Shura and Rakshasa, but to the people in question, the difference is huge.
But her lust for souls is greater than ours, top class even. She took the souls Beatrice and I should've gotten right out of our hands, although she's still lacking in certain aspects in that department.
Like what?
Basically her digestation system.
The essence of Ewigkeit is the usage of souls as a form of fuel. But Monroe's digestation is weak, so the souls she digests are only left in a half-digested state in her stomach. Instead of properly turning souls into her fuel, she leaves them doomed to exist in her stomach. When Rusalka inspected Monroe for her colour, the dark and ugly colour she saw came from the slight traces of colour that the souls she had not properly digested emitted.
This way, the souls inside of her all influence her memories and her very being, and she will slowly forget who she really is. She bites off more than she can chew, she'd be better off taking after Schreiber.
So does that mean she's not the real Monroe? But simply ate her corpse and took plastic surgery to come off as the real thing?
Who knows... It's also possible she truly is the real Marilyn Monroe who ate too much and is losing sight of who she really is. That thing has now become one big nest of identities, very befitting of this country.
Nothing more than a mass of people with no strong leader, like a mob. Rusalka's clash against Monroe, among witches, has truly become a set piece of the Longinus Dreizehn Orden vs the world.
So what will you do now, Babylon? Surely this won't end at a delivery job for Spinne, right? Take that comic book from before with you for the road home, at least.
I'd love to help, but I'm not combat-oriented.
Ah, so you didn't bring him... Well then there's nothing that can be done. Ah, is there anything on who's in charge of this now? Do I have to take Beatrice into account, or can I just do whatever I want? It makes a difference.
The Divine Vessel has ordered that Rusalka Schwägelin is in command of this operation.
I respectfully accept the honours. The Father knows what he's doing, as expected of the acting commander.
Rusalka is in good spirits. This is the best possible way things can go from here: exactly the way she wants them to. She had no other choice but to count on Valeria Trifa's intuition, and it paid off.
Lisa felt odd seeing Rusalka in such high spirits. Rusalka is a selfish person, never tainting her hands when unneccesary, and only ever picking the tasty parts. She has that very human straightforwardness to her. That is why this behaviour of hers is weird. Standing on the front lines by herself, not trying to push anything onto others... Even if the enemy carries a large amount of delicious souls, she is not the type to act like some courageous leader who takes on the world by herself for the spoils of war. does it bother her that much that there are other witches walking about? Or is there something they did that was so unforgivable?
This is a conflict between women, we men would not dare intervene...
The voice of the Divine Vessel came back to her, surely the reason he gave Rusalka permission to lead the operation by herself is because he understands why she is acting so strangely. He also had one last command for Rusalka, for all three of them...
Shall we begin?
Lisa spoke to Rusalka, who looked like a fish who'd just found a pond.
I will now recite the Divine Vessel's command, this will be a command for all of us, so I'd like you to pass it on to Valkyrie too.
After taking a breath, Lisa recited the command from the Divine Vessel, and from One even further above.
Make yourselves known.
Rusalka shivered at the order she had already heard once before. The acting commander Valeria Trifa had repeated the order Reinhard Heydrich had given them tens of years before.
Then I shall endulge like only a demon would.
Then I shall tame the mob as I see fit.
Then I shall bring about hell so that no one will ever forget.
Sieg heil!
Sieg heil!
Victory is within our grasp
Both Rusalka and Lisa exclaimed this phrase at the same time. This was the moment the Longinus Dreizehn Orden made the blessed witch and her home country their enemy.
