Tart Magica Chapter 18

The chapter opens in a flashback as Kyubey comments on the unusal wish a very young Riz Visconti has made. He promises that her wish will surely be granted since she paid her soul for it.

Back in the present, Riz charges her soul gem as both Lapin and Tart ask what she's doing. As she draws her power in, she recalls all the magical girls her and Kyubey met on their journey as well as all the ones who have perished. None of these girls were the one. Riz throws her charged dagger at the ground and the shadow it casts wraps itself around Lapin's leg immobilizing her. As she recalls more of her past, Tart calls out to her, shaking Riz from her reverie. Riz turns and throws a dagger at Tart's feet, its shadow immobilizing her as well. Tart can only cry out for an answer as she struggles to free herself. Riz recalls how one of the magical girls on her journey became a witch before their eyes as her friend cries out and asks if they were trying to trick them. As the two lay dead, Kyubey tells Riz she couldn't have helped them since she didn't know and they were not the one they were looking for anyway. Riz summons a magic circle beneath her feet as she summons her greatest attack "Gates of Hell". A large marble doorway comes up from the ground, skeletons adorning its framework.

As Melissa is about to be hit by an octopus-like witch from behind, Elisa calls out to her and knocks her to one side, taking the brunt of the hit herself. Melissa cradles Elisa in her arm and with the other she swings her polearm and makes short work of the witch. As she holds Elisa up, she notices blood on her hands and realizes Elisa is bleeding badly. She asks why Elisa would do such a thing, and Elisa responds that if anything were to happen to Melissa it would make Tart cry her eyes out. Elisa sways a moment as Melissa insists that all of them would be grief-stricken if anythign were to happen to Elisa since the four of them are partners and can't lose even a single one of them. Elisa smiles to herself and admits it's true. The two turn to face the oncoming horde of witches and agree to break through the throng so they can meet back up with Tart and Riz.

As the Gates of Hell begin to crack open, shadowy hands reach out from inside each of them grabbing at a different part of Lapin. She cries out for them to let go of her but they continue to hold on relentlessly as more hands reach out from the gate and grab at the witches in the area and pull them into the dark void that lurks behind the doors. Lapin continues to strain at the shadowy hands, crying out that nothing Riz does will make a difference since she'll keep coming back over and over again, returning to normal only for her to kill Riz no matter how many times it takes her. Riz slowly stands and tells Lapin that she's not going to defeat her, since the gates of hell have opened they will take Lapin in as well as Riz. So long as Riz sinks into the pit with lapin, the gates will never open again and both of them will sink into this prison of shadows, an eternal hell. Tart calls out to Riz for an explanation but Riz only smiles at her and bids her goodbye as her own shadows begin to wrap themselves around her. Tart strains at her shadowy chains, begging Riz to release her. Riz reminds Tart that she made a vow to protect her and that Tart still has to save Melissa and Elisa before she goes on to defeat Isabeau and bring light to this country. As Riz slowly walks towards the gate, Tart continues to call out and beg Riz to come back to her. The shadows within the gate begin to envelop Riz as she reaches out her hand and tells Tart not to cry, because her soul will always be with her. The gate snaps shut and sinks into the ground as the shadowy chains surrounding Tart disintegrate. Tart sinks to her knees and cries as she calls out Riz's name.

Melissa and Elisa stand back to back as the two continue to fight back against this second horde of witches. Minou looks down on the two and applauds them for still being around despite there only being two of them. She had assumed that La Pucelle was the only real strength in their group and that everyone else was simply "window dressing". Elisa growls at Minou, incesed at her words. Minou laughs and readies her whip in order to "apologize" for her words when the ceiling of the barrier begins to crack and rain down on them. As Minou summons her portal, she can't believe that anyone would be able to dispose of so many witches, must less her sister Lapin as well. She looks inside her portal and sees Tart on her knees crying. She admires her for having been the only survivor and both Melissa and Elisa are stunned at these words. Despite having lost her only other sister, Minou is not bothered in the least and instead looks forward to what wil come. As the barrier to continues to shatter, she promises to allow Melissa and Elisa to spectate during La Pucelle's final curtain call, a battle that Minou intends for Tart alone.

Tart looks up only to find herself alone in the castle courtyard. Several soldiers have surrounded her and are pointing their spears in her direction. They question why she would be alone in such a place and recognize her as the dirty witch that was fighting for the Armagnac Faction. They quickly surround her, binding her arms and blindfolding her before loading her into the back of a wagon under heavy guard and on May 23, 1430 La Pucelle was captured at Compiegne. In an ironic twist, that majority of troops in Compiegne were not English, but a part of the Burgundian faction allied with the English against Charles and his Armagnac faction. So La Pucelle was captured by fellow Frenchmen and this began the last year of La Pucelle's life.