Chapter 138: Well done, Bruce

“Shut up!!!”

Josuna almost screamed it out.

Her hand suddenly clamped around Elisa’s throat. The muscles on her face twisted, her eyes surging with fear, rage—and the humiliation of having her deepest thoughts exposed.

Elisa frowned in pain.

With her throat being choked, she could only let out faint whimpers. Her breathing quickly became difficult, her vision even starting to darken.

Even so—

She didn’t resist.

“What do you understand?! What I’ve been through—what do you know about it?! What right do you have to talk to me like that, looking down on me?!”

Josuna’s voice trembled, almost sobbing—yet it sounded more like hysterical accusation.

Perleti looked at her.

There was no anger on her face.

Only a kind of near-indifferent self-mockery.

She smiled faintly.

“Yeah, I don’t understand. I don’t know anything about what you’ve been through… so why don’t you tell me?”

Ever since becoming a witch, Perleti had never felt as unrestrained as she did now.

She said everything she had been holding inside.

Letting out all the emotions she had bottled up.

Drawing a clear line between herself and Josuna.

“Something this big happened, and you carried it all alone—burying everything in your heart, thinking you could handle everything yourself. Did you ever think about how I feel?”

“Do you know how painful it is for me to watch you become like this? No—you don’t!”

“You only think about yourself. Naively believing that going back to the past and knowing the future can fix everything you regret.”

“But whether the future happens or not has nothing to do with how much you know—it’s fate!”

Josuna’s lips trembled.

She wanted to speak—

But Perleti’s words nailed her in place.

“If, on that very first night when you locked me in the basement… you had told me everything—if you had opened your heart and truly talked to me just once—”

“Even if I became a witch… even if I stood against all of humanity… even if I stood against the entire world…”

“…we would never have ended up like this.”

After saying all that, Perleti sat down heavily on the sand.

One hand pressed against her temples repeatedly.

A faint, piercing pain spread through her right hand.

From the moment she started using magic until now—

The pain had never stopped.

It stabbed at her nerves, unbearable—

Yet strangely, it felt good.

That pain helped her retain a sliver of rationality.

Perhaps it was a lingering side effect of the inert factor.

But it didn’t affect her ability to use magic.

As long as she could still use magic—

Saving Elisa would not be difficult.

And no one in Brest would be her match.

Josuna stood there blankly, listening.

Every word Perleti said was like a heavy hammer, smashing into her heart.

After a long while—

She seemed to suddenly realize something.

Panic and despair spread across her face.

Her voice turned pleading:

“Then I’ll tell you now… I’ll tell you everything. Whatever you want to know—I’ll tell you, okay?”

She still thought—

Perleti was that same sister who would forgive her no matter what she did wrong.

But she didn’t realize—

She was wrong.

Completely wrong.

“Too late.”

All the pain on Perleti’s face vanished.

She raised her hand—

A layer of golden light enveloped Elisa.

With no more hesitation, Perleti controlled a massive sphere of light and sent it flying forward.

The white glow rapidly expanded in Josuna’s eyes.

She couldn’t believe Perleti would actually attack her for real.

Lumen was too fast.

There was no way Josuna could dodge it.

She could only hastily cast a protective barrier around herself—

But her defense was on an entirely different level compared to Perleti’s.

Crack—

In an instant, a crisp shattering sound rang out.

A large hand suddenly grabbed Josuna by the hair—

And yanked her down violently.

When Perleti saw who it was, she was briefly surprised.

But recalling the erratic nature of alchemists, she quickly accepted it.

“So you didn’t die after all. Figures—people who play with alchemy always end up messing their bodies up.”

“Heh, it seems Miss Perleti knows quite a bit about alchemy.”

Mephistopheles let out a soft laugh, looking completely confident.

“Originally, if you had cooperated, you could have suffered less. But now… it seems I’ll have to make you endure a bit more pain.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Perleti immediately prepared to cast Lumen again—

But Mephistopheles simply placed a hand on Elisa.

The layer of [Light Protection] shattered instantly.

Perleti saw it clearly—

Mephistopheles hadn’t used magic or alchemy to destroy it.

It was something very familiar.

Forbidden magic.

The same kind of forbidden magic Nar had used before—

Only far more proficient.

Mephistopheles shoved Elisa in front of her and spoke provocatively:

“Go ahead. Attack as much as you like.”

The attendants behind her began closing in from both sides, forming an encirclement.

Perleti simply crossed her arms, watching them with interest—making no move to stop them.

“Given up? Figures. With your personality, you’d never attack a child.”

“Of course. I was entrusted with her—I won’t harm her.”

Perleti shrugged helplessly and sighed.

The Empire knew she was a witch.

Given what they knew about her, the people they sent would definitely specialize in forbidden magic.

Only that kind of power could suppress her in direct combat.

Perleti knew very well how strong forbidden magic was against elemental abilities—

She had experienced it firsthand through Xiaolu.

Even at her current level, facing someone skilled in forbidden magic would not be easy.

Even if what Mephistopheles used was only third-rate forbidden magic—

It was still not something she could take lightly.

So… was she just going to give up fighting?

Of course not.

Seeing the regretful expression Perleti deliberately showed, Mephistopheles suddenly felt a sense of impending danger—

But it was already too late.

ROAR—!

A deafening roar erupted from the hillside.

The next moment—

A towering figure burst out from behind the sand dune like a tiger descending the mountain.

A flash of cold light—

Two attendants were instantly cut down.

In the blink of an eye, he reached Mephistopheles.

His massive frame radiated overwhelming pressure.

Perleti cooperating with a beastman—

That was something Mephistopheles had never expected.

According to intelligence, Perleti’s relationship with beastmen should have been terrible.

So how could there be a beastman by her side—

One who wielded weapons with such skill?

Forbidden magic was undoubtedly effective against Perleti—

But against physically powerful beastmen, it was almost useless.

Mephistopheles instinctively threw out a vial—

But Brutus reacted faster.

With a casual swipe, he knocked it away.

The bottle landed in the sand without even cracking.

Brutus swung his sword.

Half of Mephistopheles’ body was severed instantly.

Grabbing Elisa, he didn’t linger in battle.

Holding her securely, he immediately retreated to Perleti’s side.

“Nice one, Brutus!”

Perleti didn’t stay idle either.

A sphere of Lumen exploded behind Brutus—

A blinding white light, like a miniature sun, erupted across the desert—

Blocking Josuna, who tried to pursue them.

Taking advantage of that moment—

Brutus sheathed his sword, wrapped an arm around Perleti’s slender waist—

And swiftly carried her away from the battlefield.