The Coven

The Coven is a criminal organisation consisting of five witches led by Hades Elgard. They served as the main antagonists until their objective of reviving The Warlock was completed in Chapter 80 and he took over as the primary and ultimate antagonist of the story. The group originally consisted of Elvira Summers, Bianca Myers, Diana Shanti, Angela and Hades Elgard. The Coven had associates and underlings including Solomon Elgard, the Ripper and the vampire duo Clement and Grayson. While Angela made an appearance as early as Chapter 2 and subsequently died, The Coven wasn't introduced until Chapter 11 when it was revealed she had been a member. The Coven remained the main culprits of the ensuing drama and fighting throughout the story as they worked toward the main objective of their scheme, The Great Revival which involved resurrecting The Warlock who had been killed 17 years prior at the end of the Secret War.

Hades Elgard was responsible for forming the group, deciding she would need the help of other powerful witches to use the Perfect Revival - a spell that could perfectly revive the dead - on The Warlock. The Warlock spent many years trying to complete the spell but failed, after over a decade of further work Hades was successful. The Warlock, Angela and Jensen were revived at different points in the story by the spell. Although Hades tampered with the Perfect Revival, adding a black blood component to it which allowed her to control those she revived with it.

Hades's secret motive for using the Perfect Revival to resurrect The Warlock was to then control him with the black blood component and use him to reignite the Secret War and destroy all human governments and authorities on Earth so that humans would no longer be the supreme species. Supernatural creatures would rule and do as they wish, including killing humans. She called this plan the Great Revival.

It should be noted The Warlock's only motive for the Secret War was to destroy all life on Earth, which was his way of 'saving' everyone from the harshness of what he perceived to be an evil reality. Bianca Myers, Elvira Summers and most likely Angela and Diana were told a different story by Hades. She told them that after reviving The Warlock they would be able to use his powers to enhance the Perfect Revival and rid death from existence as well as resurrect lost loved ones. She lied to them, saying that this plan was the Great Revival. Bianca Myers's motive was to help Hades create this utopia world and see her deceased husband, mother and baby. However she did admit that she suspected Hades of lying prior to her death, admitting that she joined and aided The Coven out of desperation.

Elvira was forced into The Coven as Hades adopted her at a young age. Elvira stated she didn't know her real parents and suspected that Hades had killed them. Knowing no other life she had been a member until her defection, eventually joining the side of the Stonehall hunters when she'd been ordered to spy on them. This had been foreseen by Hades and was considered part of her plan. Solomon had been with Elvira and pretended to defect with her, but secretly remained a spy until his loyalties also changed much later in the story.

Angela was killed by Lora Desdemona. Diana was later killed by Jack Drachen in the battle at Glenville. Bianca was later killed by Hades after her defection. Angela was revived by Hades only to be killed a second time by Ariel during the Three-Way Battle arc. Hades stated that to revive The Warlock she needed the help of witches skilled in Medical Magic, Black Magic and Necromancy. Despite being arguably the strongest witch alive Hades still needed the help of others, but even with the witches united they still required time and the use of Harvests - magical items that store magical energy and sustain it. Hades stated that to perfectly revive The Warlock they would need more magic than any of them possessed at one time, and thus much of the delay before Chapter 80 was the need for the witches in The Coven to grow their harvests to an acceptable amount. This was a goal of The Coven.

After Bianca defected she took her harvest with her, luring out Hades and resulting in their battle before Hades successfully killed Bianca and retrieved it.

While The Coven's goal of resurrecting The Warlock was successful, most of the members died before this point and Hades's Great Revival plan never succeeded due to The Warlock being powerful enough to resist her control and then he was bested and killed by Jensen and the Stonehall hunters. Hades died prior to her old master's defeat, amidst the fall-out of his battle against the hunters.