Inside of a fancy and reservation only restaurant located in a remote place, Carol Summers and Emilia Corin were sitting on two sides of a round table, each of them enjoying a nice piece of steak. Emilia Corin’s steak was medium to medium rare, while Carol Summers’ was really rare, which made her whole plate look somewhat bloody.

“So, how’s the recruitment going?” Carol Summers asked when she was gently cutting into a piece of her charred broccoli: “And you’re confident you’ll be ready for war in time?”

“It’s uh… it’s good.” Emilia Corin nodded and said: “Thank you very much for the introduction - the pool’s really limited without your help.”

“It’s okay. But you do wanna be careful though.” Carol Summers looked up from her plate and smiled: “I’d say that it’s similarly dangerous to dealing with crime bosses and their lackeys, but let’s be honest,  normal crime bosses and lackeys can’t kill you with just their fingers or eyes.”

“I practically grew up listening on the doors when my father and uncles are negotiating with other families.” Emilia Corin chuckled: “Too bad that didn’t last long, I would’ve learned more, and be more capable.”

“You are already quite capable. ” Carol Summers shook her head: “Don’t sell yourself short. When I was your age, I was still a dumb broad thinking that a couple of witches that snatched me from the arms of my parents were going to raise me as their precious apprentice, and I was bound for greatness under their guidance.”

“So… what happened? If you don’t mind me asking.” Emilia Corin asked, slightly nervously.

“Oh, it’s okay to share that now. All my close associates know this story.” Carol Summers laid back on her chair and laughed: “You know, with all their lies, they were telling me the truth about one thing - that I am talented, I am powerful, I am smart, and I am bound for greatness. Too smart, actually. I was able to tell that they were raising me, not because they wanted me to be the grand witch of their coven, but because they needed a sacrifice.”

“Sa… sacrifice?”

“Yeah. It’s really cliche’ if you think about it.” Carol Summers raised her glass to her side, and one of the men behind her poured her more wine from an old-looking bottle: “Twenty three years old, the first full moon since the 23rd birthday, a virgin, sacrificed on an altar to a demon lord in hell, in exchange for immortality.”

“Immortality? Is that … even possible?” Emilia Corin muttered.

“Who the hell knows. They never got what they wanted.” Carol Summers gently twirled her glass of wine: “All I know, was that the demon they were trying to sacrifice me to was definitely real. Actually … I’m actually not that sure that it was a demon, it didn’t have horns or wings or anything. It was grotesque and gnarly, for sure, but it was a lot different from what we mere mortals think are demons.”

“But… you’re here, so you foiled their plans?” 

“Not as simple as you’d think, and not as simple as I’d hoped.” Carol Summers put down her glass and showed her right hand to Emilia Corin: “You may wonder why I don’t have this pinky - it’s actually an interesting spell - one could even be made by a powerless child - it’s a pinky bond, or pinky swear. When done right, this can form the most powerful of contractual bonds. And I barely squeezed myself out of the sacrifice and made a new deal with that ‘demon’ by killing one of the witches that tried to trick me and offered her body and soul in place of mine. But that was not enough, she was not a virgin, nor as young as I was, or as full of potential as I am. So I tricked the remaining two witches into sacrificing half their souls to that entity for my way out.”

Emilia Corin went silent, she did not know what to say to that.

“And you know one thing that’s quite hilariously ironic?” Carol Summers chuckled after a sip of wine: “Being a virgin didn’t even mean anything to that entity - it’s simply a requirement, a box to tick to show sincerity, and faith. It doesn’t mean jack shit to the entity, other than the fact that we as mere mortals are happy and willing to do what is demanded of us.”

“That’s quite a story.” Emilia Corin let out a long exhale, “Thank you.”

“Oh, I’m not simply sharing because I feel like having a girl’s night.” Carol Summers said: “I am telling you this, because I think you’re useful to me, and I don’t want you to die, because you lack experience contending with powers that are beyond your experience or comprehension.”

Just this moment Emilia Corin’s pupils lit up, and she appeared to be having a brief moment of unease.

“Something’s...” Emilia Corin squirmed and said: “Something’s coming, something...”

Carol Summers instantly went on high alert, and conjured a protective energy dome, covering her and Emilia Corin.

A wide and thin grey energy blade swept through the entire restaurant and shattered the protective energy dome when it came across the position of Carol Summers and Emilia Corin.

All the other people inside the restaurant were sliced into pieces by that grey energy blade. Carol Summers was unharmed, for she was able to protect herself at the very last minute with another small energy shield. Emilia Corin was cut in her shoulder and arms by the scattered energy shards from both the energy blade and the protective dome, but she was able to move the critical parts of her body out of the way and avoid being seriously injured.

An assassin in a hood and wearing a piece of face covering cloth jumped into the crumbling restaurant, with two golden daggers in her hands. And without a moment of hesitation, the assassin swung the two daggers towards Carol Summers, one against her neck and one against her waist.