The Witch and Yukieda both fell into the category of “white” skin.

But unlike Yukieda, whose skin meant beauty, a healthy flush, and life—

the Witch’s was closer to a corpse’s.

Just looking at it stirred up a physical sense of disgust.

Right now, the Witch’s face was very close to Kenji’s, and she looked completely unguarded.

At this distance, Kenji was one hundred percent sure he wouldn’t miss.

A soldier’s decisiveness made him pull the trigger without hesitation. He emptied an entire magazine straight into the Witch’s face.

Did the bullets do anything?

Yes.

The Witch’s face burst apart like a tomato smashed with a hammer. Kenji saw it with his own eyes—Borel’s eyeball was blown clean away by the kinetic force of the rifle rounds.

But in the span of a single breath, the Witch in front of him returned to normal. She tilted her head and looked at Kenji with a smiling expression, as if to say—

That’s it?

Ignoring Borel’s gaze, Kenji swung up the rifle and smashed it toward the Witch’s head.

In the next instant, Borel’s pale hand caught the barrel. She crushed it into a lump as easily as if she were squeezing rubber.

Give up?

That word had never existed in Kenji’s dictionary.

He dropped the ruined weapon at once, tensed his muscle-packed arm, and threw up his fist.

“Hmph...”

This time, Kenji had completely pissed Borel off. To her, it felt like sitting in a car while a mad dog chased after it. The dog couldn’t actually do anything to her, but the barking was annoying.

Now she was going to make that dog shut up.

Borel used only two moves.

She casually slapped Kenji’s arm aside. With a crisp crack, his arm twisted into an unnatural angle. Then she lightly punched him in the stomach, and a burst of white shockwave exploded outward.

The man built like an iron tower dropped to his knees on the spot.

Of course, Borel could’ve just killed Kenji outright with one slap. But she was still curious.

Why did Kenji know who she was?

What she hadn’t expected was that this man was so fragile. He actually passed out.

“Who exactly are you again?”

Borel muttered to herself. The musclehead looked kind of familiar, but she couldn’t place him.

At that moment, a furious shout suddenly came from below.

“You bastard, let her go already!”

The Witch shifted her attention downward.

She saw a familiar face.

In that instant, her pupils shrank sharply, and her legs unconsciously took two steps back.

“Mai Haruran!?”

Borel quickly calmed herself down. Remembering how rattled she’d looked just now made her burn with embarrassment, but luckily, no one had noticed her little reaction in the night.

This wasn’t Mai Haruran. She just looked a lot like her.

Mai Haruran would never wear such a miserable expression. More importantly, the person in front of her had no magical power fluctuations at all.

The moment she saw that familiar face, Borel realized something. She kicked Kenji off the building, then carried Yukieda in one hand and walked with light steps to Mai’s side.

“So the musclehead was Mai Haruran’s partner. It’s been so many years. Back then he was actually kind of cute. How’d he turn into... this?”

“No wonder he looked familiar but I couldn’t remember,” Borel said in an exaggerated tone. “Looking like that, who the hell could recognize him?”

Mai set the unconscious Kenji down to one side, then looked straight into the Witch’s eyes without the slightest fear.

Those eyes were darker than the night itself.

Mai’s lips trembled. He looked at the powerless Yukieda.

“Let her go.”

“Nope. She killed my cute little toy, after all.”

That was what she said, but right now, Borel had found something even more entertaining.

This person in front of her had the exact same face as that woman.

And right now, that face was twisted with intense hatred, yet didn’t dare act rashly.

That woman would never make an expression like this. Borel even suspected that even in bed, she’d still be wearing a mocking look.

Borel was delighted.

She had to play with this properly.

“What’s your name?”

Mai glanced at Yukieda, then said each word slowly and clearly.

“Mai Natsutaki.”

“Oh, I get it. You’re that woman’s younger sister, huh? No wonder you’ve got the same annoying face.”

Mai didn’t explain.

He didn’t even know what expression he had on his face. He wanted to rein in his emotions, but he simply couldn’t do it.

This woman in front of him—

this pale Witch—

he would never forget her for the rest of his life.

She was the one who killed his sister.

And now, this woman had beaten Mr. Kenji, the man his sister once loved. She had also captured his partner, a Magical Girl who loved cooking and was a bit of a doting parent.

There was no way he could pretend nothing had happened.

No way he could put on that kind of face.

He couldn’t do it!

Looking at the girl before her, who seemed like she’d just swallowed a fly, Borel felt overjoyed.

Tonight’s harvest was truly rich.

Mai Haruran.

Just hearing that name made Borel feel like shivering. Fear—when was the last time she’d felt something like that?

And tonight, she had tasted both joy and fear.

Delicious.

Absolutely delicious.

That expressionless woman, that woman who hunted her day after day, would never have imagined that both of her family members would end up in Borel’s hands.

And the original prize, the Magical Girl who should’ve been the most valuable one, had now become little more than a side dish.

Memories.

I need to remember.

I need to remember the panic this face once forced on me.

Remember how that woman chopped off my limbs like slicing melons.

That feeling—

that helplessness.

Yes.

Just like this.

Only now, their positions had been reversed.

She wanted to see more.

More emotions on that face.

Emotions she had never seen before.

Borel tightened her grip on Yukieda on purpose, squeezing until the bones audibly creaked. Sure enough, fear immediately appeared on the girl’s face in front of her.

She was begging Borel to spare this Magical Girl.

“Let me guess. What’s your relationship with this Magical Girl? Don’t tell me you’re partners?”

From the change in the girl’s expression, Borel knew she had guessed right.

Still not enough.

Just a little more.

It was like being stopped right at the edge—still not enough.

Right.

This Magical Girl wasn’t even conscious. What fun was there in tormenting a rag doll?

Borel gathered the tiniest bit of magic and casually poured it into the Magical Girl in her hand.

Mai watched as Yukieda regained consciousness. Her outfit, too, was restored by the flood of magic, shining like new. A faint glow spread from her body.

This was definitely her peak condition.

But even at full power, Yukieda was like a chicken with its neck gripped in Borel’s hand, with no chance to struggle or resist.

Her desperate resistance was soft and powerless, almost like she was acting spoiled.

What do I do?

Mai lowered his head. He didn’t want to watch the tragedy in front of him anymore.

He had no idea what to do now.

Just then, a shrill tearing sound came from the sky.

Mai immediately realized it was the support Mr. Kenji had called in earlier.

Borel’s expression shifted for a brief moment, and Mai caught that tiny change at once.

“Whoa, you even called in fighter jets? That’s pretty dramatic. But this is a residential area. I don’t believe your people would dare drop bombs on their own soil.”

“I know your kind all too well. Always hesitating, always holding back. That’s exactly why that poor woman died. She must regret it, right? Regret not killing me.”

Borel spoke in a mocking, sneering tone while watching Mai’s expression.

But Mai didn’t look angry.

That disappointed her.

“My sister would never regret it. She saved everyone. Her story was turned into cultural works, and a character based on her was even made into figures. People loved her.”

The words came from Mai’s mouth, full of pride.

In sharp contrast, the Witch’s face darkened at once.

“How dare you talk to me like that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill her?”

Mai smiled easily and pointed at the sky.

“Soon, everyone’s going to die. I’ll die. You’ll die too. As for her, I can only apologize to her after I’m dead.”

Borel hesitated.

Her regeneration was absurdly strong, but against certain human weapons, it still wasn’t enough. Those things erased you on the molecular level. No matter how monstrous her healing was, there was no way she could survive that.

“You’re lying to me. I know humans too well. You’d never dare drop bombs on your own territory.”

As if trying to convince herself, she added,

“I know human logic all too well. You people always care about reputation, authority, all that vague nonsense. When absolute power is the only thing that matters.”

Mai simply sat down on the ground and looked at Borel, pretending to sound casual as he continued.

“You’re right. If fighter jets really bombed the city, the prime minister would definitely be forced to resign. Cabinet ministers would probably get stabbed by extremists while giving speeches in the street. But—”

His tone shifted.

“But?”

“But that only matters if the jets in the sky are ours.”

Borel’s face changed instantly.

She immediately looked up, staring at the figures weaving through the clouds.

If they weren’t domestic fighters, then there was only one possibility left.

The planes overhead were fighter jets from the Star-Spangled Nation’s stationed forces.

They didn’t care in the slightest whether locals lived or died.

For them, no matter how huge the mistake was, the worst that could happen was being sent back home and put in confinement. This place had already been evacuated into a deserted zone, but even if people were still here, they’d still drop the bombs without hesitation.

After all, they’d done similar things back in the 1940s.

In a daze, Borel vaguely remembered a broadcast on TV, the inauguration speech of the Star-Spangled Nation’s supreme leader.

“Make striking down Witches the top priority! Let people travel freely again! Make the Star-Spangled Nation great again!”

“Target locked!”

“Fire!”

The two pilots pressed the launch buttons on their control sticks at the same time.

Tss! Tss!

In that brief instant of distraction, the hatches under the two patrol fighters opened, and they launched two missiles one after another, dragging long tails of flame behind them.

Afraid one wouldn’t be enough to kill her, they even fired an extra one.

“What a bunch of lunatics!”