Chapter 106: An Absolute Disparity

Fakenna lightly withdrew his sword, turning his body to evade the flames Anasha slashed toward him. A mocking smile curled at his lips.

“Woman, playing with fire isn’t a good habit.”

In the brief moment of evasion, his gaze casually swept toward where Peretti had been standing—but to his surprise, the spot was empty.

His eyes scanned the surroundings and finally landed on the girl, now standing by a wall outside the encirclement.

When had she moved?
Was it the instant Anasha released her grip to swing her sword? Or when everyone’s attention was drawn into the clash?

She had silently slipped past the soldiers’ watch and stepped outside the encirclement.

Even stranger, the soldiers around her seemed completely unaware of her presence. Their eyes remained fixed on the Regulation Squad members within the circle, burning with focus.

Fakenna’s expression grew serious.

This girl—her wrists still bound by iron chains—was far from simple.

Could it be… she really was from the Gluttony Church?

…No. They weren’t enemies. There was no reason to interfere.

He stopped letting his attention wander and raised his sword to engage Anasha once more. The sharp clang of metal rang out repeatedly. Around them, soldiers and Regulation Squad members fully clashed—blades collided, cold flashes of steel crisscrossed, and the air filled with the heavy scent of conflict and the constant “clang-clang” of weapons.

A brutal battle had officially begun.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Peretti quietly shifted her steps, avoiding the soldiers’ line of sight, and made her way to an inconspicuous small house.

Luckily, the door wasn’t locked. With a gentle push, it opened.

She closed it behind her, shutting out the sounds of battle. Leaning against the door, Peretti slowly slid down to the floor, her chest still heaving. The fear from moments ago hadn’t fully faded.

She hugged her knees, burying her face in her arms. Her voice trembled faintly:

“I still… can’t do it…”

She had thought that saving Ailberna from the fire last time was proof that she had overcome her fear.

But now it seemed… she had overestimated herself.

That fear, carved deep into her bones—how could it possibly be so easily erased?

After calming down, reason gradually regained control. Peretti forced herself to recall the details from earlier.

Fakenna’s uniform was the standard attire of the Imperial Knight Order. Such uniforms were custom-made and impossible to replicate casually—and it fit him perfectly.

When he had shown his identification earlier, she had taken a quick glance. The seal’s pattern, the texture of the paper—it had all been real.

Which meant that Fakenna truly was an Imperial soldier. And indeed, the commander of the Knight Order.

Peretti remembered clearly: the very first article of Imperial military law stated that a soldier’s duty was to protect the Empire’s civilians.

Yet the Fakenna before her had deliberately surrounded the Regulation Squad—and even went so far as to target innocent civilians on the street.

That completely contradicted the very purpose of him becoming a soldier.

Why would he do this?

The Regulation Squad had never held a grudge against the Knight Order, nor had they violated Imperial law.

Something about this was wrong.

Peretti frowned, feeling as though she had overlooked a crucial piece of information. The clue lingered in her mind—but she just couldn’t grasp it.

Just as she was lost in thought, trying to piece everything together, a small figure suddenly appeared before her.

It was a little girl.

She stood at the doorway of an inner room, wearing a tattered old garment patched all over and faded from washing. Her hair was messy, her face smudged with dirt. In her hand, she tightly clutched a dried branch.

Her wide eyes, both curious and timid, stared at Peretti like a startled little animal peeking out—

Then, from beside her, a pair of thin, bony hands reached out and quickly pulled her back inside.

Like a bolt of lightning, realization struck Peretti.

She finally understood what was wrong.

There was too little smell of blood.

If Fakenna had truly slaughtered the civilians here, the scent of blood on him wouldn’t be so faint.

So he had said it deliberately.

In reality, the civilians had all hidden themselves away—his goal was simply to provoke Anasha’s anger.

But then… why would the civilians willingly follow his arrangement and hide?

There was only one explanation—

This commander held extremely high prestige among both the military and the people.

But if that were the case… why had that woman pulled her child back inside?

Was she afraid of the Regulation Squad?

Crash—!

The sharp sound of shattering glass suddenly rang out, cutting off Peretti’s thoughts.

She turned toward the noise, only to see a soldier slam heavily onto the stone floor inside the house. His chest rose and fell violently—he was clearly badly injured.

Right behind him came a Regulation Squad member, a long blade in hand gleaming with cold light, thrusting straight toward the fallen soldier’s throat.

But at the very moment the blade was about to make contact—

It stopped midair, as if nailed in place.

No matter how much force the attacker used, it wouldn’t move another inch.

“This is a misunderstanding. Stop.”

Peretti’s voice was calm and steady. Her hand, glowing faintly with a silvery-white aura, firmly gripped the scorching blade.

The sharp edge cut into her palm. Blood slowly dripped down the blade—yet she seemed completely unaware of the pain.

Both the soldiers and the Regulation Squad members present froze, disbelief written all over their faces.

This girl—her hands still bound by heavy iron chains, regarded by them as a heretic—actually dared to interfere in the battle between the military and the Regulation Squad?

“Good! I’ve been displeased with you for a long time! Since we’re here today, I’ll purge you, heretic!”

The Regulation Squad member shouted in fury, pulling back her blade. Magic surged wildly through her body as a blazing red glow enveloped the weapon. She then slashed fiercely toward Peretti’s shoulder.

But the moment the blade fell—

Peretti’s figure drifted back like a phantom by half a foot.

The strike hit nothing but air before crashing heavily into the ground, scattering fragments of stone.

The attacker looked up in shock—

Only to see that, at some unknown moment, half a broken blade now gleamed coldly in Peretti’s hand.

Her heart sank. She hurriedly looked down at her own weapon—

The once-intact long blade had shattered, leaving only a short fragment, barely longer than the hilt, clutched awkwardly in her hand.

She hadn’t even seen Peretti move.

From her perspective, the girl had simply caught the blade with her bare hand—and in the instant she pulled it back, snapped it in two by sheer force.

Humans could grow stronger—whether through magic or combat skill—but no matter how far they advanced, their physical bodies remained an insurmountable limitation.

At the same rank, the beast races could easily overturn a speeding train, while a human of equal level couldn’t even lift a thousand-pound stone with pure strength alone.

This was the innate gap between races.

And similarly, the gap in magical capability between the two was even greater than the physical one.

That was why, on the battlefield, the beast races suffered repeated defeats.

Seeing Peretti snap the blade so effortlessly with pure strength, she became even more convinced—

Peretti was a heretic.

Only those blessed by evil gods possessed physical abilities far beyond normal humans!

“So it’s true—you are a heretic!” she shouted harshly, though she made no further move.

She knew very well—her opponent was far stronger than herself.

“If you’ve got the energy, save it for outside.”