Chapter 90: Only Death Marks the End of Responsibility

“Not really… I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

Peretti looked helplessly at the members of the Regulation Squad before her.

“There are too many of them. You just finished your Feast—your mana isn’t stable. Beating them right now would be risky. Leave it to me.”

“Didn’t you just say I shouldn’t hog the spotlight? And now you want to face them alone?”

“I’m your senior. Since when does a senior let a junior face the enemy?”

“…I seriously don’t know what to do with you, you fat bird.”

“Watch your mouth! Who are you calling fat?!”

“You,” Peretti replied casually.

With a single raise of her hand, dozens of massive walls of light materialized in the sky, crashing down onto the ground before turning completely transparent—forming a giant maze.

“Using invisible walls to block their advance… not bad. You’ve got some brains.”

A thunderous roar split the air.

Tamiya moved like lightning itself, dark violet arcs crackling around her blade. By the time anyone reacted, she had already closed the distance—killing intent blazing in her eyes.

Peretti’s body shimmered with a golden glow as she raised one hand and caught the blade head-on. Lightning surged outward from the weapon, serpentine arcs gnawing at her—but they failed to leave even a scorch mark on the golden light.

[Radiant Protection]

“Not strong enough.”

Leaning forward, Peretti sent two light spheres hurtling forward from behind her. Tamiya instantly sensed danger and retreated dozens of meters in a flash of lightning—but the spheres chased relentlessly, expanding to the size of a human.

Realizing she couldn’t escape, Tamiya steeled herself and slammed her feet into the ground.

Stabilizing her stance, she reversed her grip and slashed upward.

This time, no lightning scattered outward—yet the collision of pure light erupted in a deafening explosion that shocked everyone present.

Peretti, unable to sense any conventional magic, clenched her hand—and two more light spheres appeared.

[Lumen]

This was a spell she had unintentionally learned during the Witch’s Feast. Like fangs to a beast, it felt innate—something she had always possessed but couldn’t use until now.

Irene and Nar attacked simultaneously from both sides, while their squad members moved in unison. Their goal was clear—to stall Xiaolu from assisting Peretti.

Compared to the destructive power of Lumen, the spears behind Xiaolu posed far less threat.

Xiaolu immediately felt underestimated.

The spears behind her fell like feathers in unison. The squad members scrambled to dodge—until one of them realized something.

The transparent barriers Peretti created to block attacks had instead become perfect cover.

Xiaolu’s cheeks puffed up in anger.

“Peretti! Look at the mess you made! Tear down these walls already!”

But when she looked over, Peretti was locked in combat with Irene and had no time to respond. Just as Xiaolu moved to assist, a blade blocked her path.

“You’re not going anywhere while I’m here!”

It was Anna.

She had forced her way through the barrage, her body covered in wounds.

Seeing more enemies rushing in, Xiaolu cursed under her breath, grabbed the blade, and kicked Anna several meters away.

“What a pain.”

Without ranged advantage, Xiaolu picked up two spears and engaged in close combat.

—

On the other side, Peretti wielded a massive golden greatsword, radiant light surging around her as she clashed against Irene’s cold blade.

“You’re giving it your all… but it’s still not enough.”

Peretti increased her output. Irene felt the pressure on her blade grow heavier, harder to withstand.

“Nar! Are you ready yet?!”

“Ready! Light of protection—disperse!”

Nar’s blade was now wrapped in a dim gray aura.

Peretti instantly sensed the danger. She forced Irene back with a light sphere and raised her greatsword to strike Nar—but the moment the blade met that gray light, it disintegrated, scattering into countless motes.

Before she could react, Nar’s blade pierced forward.

Peretti raised her hand to block—

The blade ignored her protection and pierced straight through her palm, stopping just at her throat. Blood trickled down her neck like a stream.

No matter how much Nar pushed, she couldn’t advance even an inch further.

“Your blade’s too short. You should get a longer one next time.”

Another light sphere formed.

Nar had no choice but to abandon the kill. Twisting her blade, she severed Peretti’s hand and retreated in haste.

Peretti calmly picked up her severed hand, reattached it, and healed the wound on her neck.

Her protective barrier quickly dissipated. She frowned slightly, then cast it again.

So… that was a spell technique.

She hadn’t expected Caroline’s magic to include something like that.

Only that gray-imbued strike could break her defense—but Irene and Tamiya mainly relied on lightning and frost-infused attacks.

Without protection, she could easily be frozen solid—or burned to ash.

Looking again, she saw Tamiya—gravely injured—standing in front of Nar, taking a Lumen attack for her. When the dust settled, Tamiya dropped to her knees, barely able to stand.

“…Even like this, you still shield her? Impressive.”

“Cut the crap!” Tamiya growled, trying to stand—but her right leg was torn open, useless.

“You need treatment. Otherwise, your leg will be ruined,” Nar said urgently, casting healing magic while Irene covered them.

Throughout all this—

Peretti simply watched.

“Why go this far? You all know this battle is unwinnable. My total mana exceeds the three of you combined. If I hadn’t held back, you’d already be corpses.”

She glanced toward Xiaolu.

Several bodies already lay in pools of blood.

“Irene…” she sighed softly.

“Take this as repayment for your help on the train. Take them and leave. I won’t harm you.”

“Don’t even think about it!” Irene shouted. “I regret not letting that beastkin kill you back then! But you’re a witch—a sworn enemy of humanity! As members of the Regulation Squad, we will fight you to the death!”

“But this is meaningless sacrifice. Letting them die like this serves no purpose.”

“Sacrifice is never meaningless!” Irene’s voice rang out. “At the very least, it shows people what a witch truly is! The crimes witches have committed against humanity will never be erased from history! In this world—only death marks the end of responsibility!”

Peretti lowered her head quietly.

In the end, the reason humans hunted witches was simple—

Fear.

Fear that the witches’ power would threaten the Church’s authority.

Among all races, only humans were ruled without divine-blood leaders. Elves, beastkin, vampires—even now, all were governed by divine-blood rulers.

Those in power feared that after the war, the witches would overthrow them.

So they broke their promises and ambushed the witches who had just returned victorious.

Both sides paid a terrible price.

The witches left humanity.

Those people kept their status—but their fear remained.

And so, day after day, they filled the minds of common people with one belief—

That witches were evil incarnate.