Noel sighed.

  The redhead hovered above the enemy encampment and surveyed the scene before her, shaking her head at the crude inhabitants below. The enemy numbered a little over 2000, a number that she might have hesitated to face prior to this whole Ascension mess, but seemed so absolutely inadequate now. These little Aspirants were happily chatting away, eating, and laughing despite the never-ending rain that obscured their visions. They were so naive, so vulnerable, so uselessly content to think nothing of the dangers that loomed just over their heads. Pathetic.

  Noel had hoped that the Ascension process would help the populace overcome their weaknesses, but it had done almost the opposite. The stronger the Aspirants grew, the more they took for granted. Why use caution or tactics when it was so much easier to simply rely on their new abilities? It was the same as before all of this; where humanity once relied on technology, they now relied on supernatural powers. She found that mentality so frustrating, and to see that nothing had changed angered the woman.

  But Noel supposed that this was the normal mindset for humans, even if this particular batch came from a different universe. They were happy to follow the established norms, never thinking of the consequences should the safety nets that they relied on were to fail. They were ignorant, fallible, and weak, and as her little bro had instructed, she would be the one to remind them of the dangers of falling into complacency.

  Noel sighed again, but more due to her own shortcomings. She supposed that she couldn’t judge these men and women too harshly when she herself had been complacent as well. Noel couldn’t imagine what her life would be like at the moment if she hadn’t met Jae-Hyun and Walter, but if her boss’ time-traveling knowledge was to be believed, then it wasn’t anything good. No, she owed those two way too much. Not only had she met people who she could respect, but they were also able to accept all aspects of the woman herself.

  Jae-Hyun had been the guiding force behind their guild, ensuring that their core group would prosper no matter what new challenges awaited them by always pointing them in the right direction. Equally as important, or perhaps even more so, it was her little bro who took care of the rest. Walter had always been the one to solve those unseen issues that plagued the Abyss guild, always doing more than was required of him. He had saved the guild from disaster more times than Noel could count now, and still, he persisted.

  It made sense, she supposed. Noel, despite her many shortcomings, had a nack of judging people; of finding the truly talented individuals from the rough. That was why she had decided to team up with Vadeem back on Earth. Yet despite how impressive Vadeem was as an individual - a fact that she would never voice out to the large man in person - he still paled in comparison to the other two.

  Jae-Hyun had this radiance about him that naturally drove the people around him close, despite his often quiet and brooding nature. His every action and word was deliberate, always thinking of the implications of each decision that he made. He was meticulous as he was ruthless, and Noel knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would be the one who would lead the Abyss guild to victory. That man’s determination and tenacity was unrivaled.

  Then there was Walter, his enigmatic little bro… Where Jae-Hyun was like looking into the sun, Walter was like staring into the void. She meant that quite literally. Noel had always been blessed with the ability to see Sin, even before all of this craziness started, and she had seen some real scum of the earth over the years, and those people were stained an inky black. Yet despite all that, despite seeing literal demons and monstrosities in the Trials who surpassed anything she’d witnessed in the outside world, she had never seen someone so devoid of color as Walter.

  It was like the concept of good and evil simply didn’t apply to the man, or, perhaps, whatever being was underneath that mask. Noel was certain that her little bro was hiding something. Well, that wasn’t anything new. Everyone in the Abyss guild had their own secrets, Noel included, but while the others might have their own suspicion about what Walter’s secret was, Noel had the sneaking suspicion that whatever he was hiding was larger than anything they could comprehend, something beyond the abilities of even the timelord himself.

  Well, that hardly mattered to the redhead in any case. At the end of the day, Walter was still her little bro, no matter what else may be hidden from her, and she’d treat him as such. Everyone was entitled to their own dirty little secrets, and Noel was never the type to pry. And while the others might think that the nickname she gave Walter was just that; Noel really did think of Walter as a brother. No, loathe as she was to admit it since it would mean proving Vadeem right, she secretly considered all of the Abyss guild as her family. And Noel Kowalski never betrayed those she considered family.

  All of that meant that she was willing to put aside her normal lackadaisical attitude and focus solely on the task at hand. Her brother wanted her to make these Aspirants pay for disturbing their free time together, and so she shall. But first, she waited. It wasn’t the right time to strike, not yet.

  Noel needed the Aspriants to lower their guards sufficiently first, what she had in plan needed a relaxed, malleable mind to work. They’re still too tense from the transition, too on guard from entering an unknown location. But even after a few hours had passed their guard was relaxing. Soon, perhaps another hour or two, they would be totally at ease here. Noel marveled at the human ability to adapt and revert back to their habits once they thought they were safe and sound.

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  And wait Noel did. Her concentration never wavering for even a moment as she continued to scan the humans from her vantage point. She waited for them to grow bored, to become fatigued, for the first signs of mental weakness to show…

  And there it was.

  After almost six hours of constant vigilance and multiple calls from Vadeem and Walter about her progress, Noel found the right time to strike. She concentrated her mind and focused inwards, delving into herself until she was at the core of her power. The flames that made up her body began to beat and vibrate, in tune with her will. She was going to do more than she’d ever done before. She could do it, she knew. Her little bro had supplied her with all the tools she needed for her task.

  The flames that made up Noel’s body started to fracture and splinter from her form. Her body became two, then four, eight, sixteen, and over and over they divided until mere motes of midnight black fire remained, each carrying a tiny fraction of the redhead’s consciousness. Noel knew that she risked losing herself entirely if she continued, but she pressed on anyway. She needed more; her little bro was right, the foes below were a cut above what she’d fought before.

  She continued to divide herself until only the faintest memories of herself remained. The only thing that mattered was the task at hand, and every single fragment of Noel repeated that task in her minds repeatedly, incessantly, for she risked oblivion if she didn’t remind herself of what she had to do.

  And as one, each mote of inky embers floated down from the sky, invisible to even the most perceptive of Aspirants, and flew toward their targets. They hovered in on the stained souls of the humans encamped, and without their victims even noticing, Noel had buried herself deep into the hearts of every single person present.

  That was the easy step. The next part required finesse. Noel knew that she couldn’t affect every Aspirant here, there were far too many and she was stretched too thin. But she didn’t need to affect every person here. She only needed the vulnerable. Those she seemed too resistant to her powers, she abandoned entirely. The fragments of her form leave the host body to enter and reinforce another victim. Those who were too weak were also discarded, for they had no use to the redhead. Once this reshuffling was complete, Noel was able to comfortably reside in approximately a quarter of the populace. Fewer than she had hoped, but it would have to be enough.

  On command, the ebony embers wiggled themselves from the core of the bodies into the Aspirant’s brain. It dispersed throughout the mind, and once each fragment was fully embedded, Noel activated her new skill. The effects were immediate.

  “W-what’s going on?” someone said in a half panic. The first to feel the effects of Noel’s meddling started to dart around irrationally, although the Aspirants as a whole didn’t think too much about his erratic behavior. That is, until more and more of them started to behave just as erratically as the first.

  “The hell’s going on?” Someone unaffected muttered. “Did one of the fucking research guys spike the water or something? Goddamn it, get the healers and-”

  He didn’t get to finish his words. Blood poured from the man’s lips as a sword emerged from his chest. He clutched at the fatal wound, confusion and disbelief showing despite the pain.

  “Y- you can’t hurt me here!” the first panicked man muttered, his eyes glazed over and spittle flying everywhere. “I’m strong now! You can’t hurt me anymore. No one can!”

  He swung his blade again, using adrenaline-fueled strength. He managed to cleave another unsuspecting individual before people noticed and started to subdue him, noticing the change. But by then, it was already too late, as more and more of Noel’s thralls fell deeper into the nightmare that she concocted for each of those sinners. One by one, they fought against their comrades, some flinging magic, some rushing headlong into certain death, while others simply fled into the rainy horizon, never to be seen again.

  “Monsters! Why? I know I fucking killed you!” A woman screamed hysterically, clawing at her eyes before lunging at anything that moved with insane intent.

  “No- you can’t! I won’t allow you! Please!” Another man cried as he ran into the distance, past the safety of their barricade and into the unknown.

  “Make it go away!”

  “You won’t take me alive, fuck you! Fuck you all!”

  More and more erratic screams filled the encampment. Their desperate calls drowned out the confusion of the others. And that was the beauty of Noel’s new ability. Ever since her job was upgraded, her connection to sin and the inherent evils of the world grew. With so many vile and corrupt men and women around, her abilities skyrocketed. She was the envoy of Gehenna, of hell itself, and the people here had a taste of what that title truly meant. They were reliving the worst parts of their lives on repeat, their minds frozen in time.

  Either way, the damage that they were able to inflict on the unsuspecting foe was immense. Of course, this kind of sustained damage wouldn’t be able to last. Already the uninfected were gathering and coordinating to contain the crazed lunatics. Some with healing or holy professions were able to dispel Noel’s flames, much to the redhead’s annoyance, while others splashed various potions and other creatives in an attempt to fix the malady. Some of those same potions even worked.

  All in all, the chaos lasted for the better part of two hours before the last of Noel’s motes were forced to vacate their hosts and reintegrate back into her main body. Of course, Noel made sure that she left a little present for those whose heads she had invaded. While a fraction of a fraction of her fires might not produce the same effects as when she was whole, but it was enough to corrode memories and senses. The bodies she left behind would be bereft of emotion, their minds continuously trapped in their worst memories. She could have killed them if she wanted, but her little bro had told her to cripple the forces, and leaving behind semi-coherent bodies that drained resources did more damage than dead ones.

  Once the last of her fragments rejoined the whole, Noel left the battlefield a little tired and worse for wear, but triumphant. She had done enough for now; it was time to rejoin her friends back in the hospital and plan for subsequent assaults.

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