Chapter 285: The Alluring Witch (Final)
"Damn it!"
Fiona's brows knit tightly—the guardian of the Passage was far more dangerous than she had anticipated.
"Why aren't you making your move?! Do you want me to destroy it myself?!" she shouted.
The moment her words fell, Gideon suddenly appeared beside her.
He flicked a vial of holy water forward, striking the red-robed skeleton squarely on the head.
The liquid trickled down, only to be absorbed by the bones.
Just as I thought… holy artifacts don't work on this thing, Gideon concluded inwardly.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Fiona's expression darkened.
"Helping you out," Gideon replied, tossing her the bone fragment from earlier and gesturing behind her.
A chill ran down Fiona's spine.
She slowly turned her head—only to meet a pair of hollow eye sockets.
Bang!
Gideon watched as a figure was sent flying.
"So holding the bone reduces its hostility…?" he mused.
"You… bastard." Fiona pushed herself back to her feet.
She looked disheveled but uninjured—likely protected by some defensive spell.
After kicking her away, the red-robed skeleton returned to attack the pentagram formation.
It seemed the bone fragment did have some effect… though it was also possible the skeleton simply prioritized the formation as the greater threat.
Either way, the bone didn't seem like a trap.
---
Gideon stepped forward again, extending his hand toward Fiona.
"Now I can deal with it without worry."
Fiona's chest rose and fell sharply, magic surging in her palm.
"You wouldn't want all your carefully prepared ritual to fail, would you?" Gideon added, nodding toward the formation.
A moment later, the magic in her hand dissipated.
Fiona smiled once more. "Then please… be quick."
Gideon narrowed his eyes, took the bone, and approached the red-robed skeleton.
Fiona resumed control of the ritual, as if completely unconcerned with his earlier actions.
---
If this bone is connected to the remains, then establishing a link through holy power might work…
With that thought, Gideon immediately infused the bone with his holy energy.
The power within his body drained at an astonishing rate.
But—
"It works!"
His eyes lit up.
As the bone became smooth and luminous, he could clearly sense the skeletal remains.
He tried exerting influence through that connection.
The red-robed skeleton's movements faltered.
But in the next instant, a powerful resistance surged back—it had no intention of being controlled.
"Good thing I came prepared."
Gideon pulled out another bone fragment—the one he had obtained from Sister Lynn.
Flooding it with holy energy, he strengthened the connection even further.
"Come here."
He clenched his fist.
The skeleton slowly retracted its step. Its limbs grew stiff, unnatural—like a puppet being forced to move.
Moments later, it obediently stood at his side.
---
"So that's how it is…"
Now that he had control, Gideon discovered even more.
"Impressive… he actually succeeded," Fiona narrowed her eyes.
From the very beginning, she had planned to let both sides weaken each other—ideally leaving them both heavily injured.
"But this works too. Now the ritual can finally reach its full potential."
Magic surged in her hands once more.
---
At the same time—
Fox suddenly noticed that her healed wound had reopened, blood pouring out uncontrollably.
The same thing began happening to the other witches.
"I can't move!"
"What's going on?! My magic is out of control!"
Shock spread through the group.
The pentagram formation was now draining their power without restraint.
Thud… thud…
One body after another collapsed.
Their faces turned deathly pale.
"Stop! Fiona! What are you doing?!" Fox cried out in panic.
Fiona remained expressionless, yet intensified the flow of power into the ritual.
Within the formation, the witches' strength was rapidly depleted.
Pain twisted their faces.
Their youthful beauty began to wither—
Wrinkles spread across their skin, pale arms became mottled, hair turned white at a visible rate.
Some even lost their teeth as they aged before everyone's eyes.
Even Fox could barely hold on.
"Life force… you're draining our life force… why?" she asked, unable to understand how her own mother could do this.
Aside from Gideon and a few others, most of the witches had no idea of Fiona's true intentions.
---
Fiona walked slowly among them, silent.
She lifted a girl's face, gently tracing the deep wrinkles forming on her skin.
"Hmph. The academy needs more powerful witches?" she sneered.
"You think you can grow stronger by stepping over the corpse of the Supreme Witch?"
Her voice rose sharply.
Tears welled in Fox's eyes. "No one can live forever… you could let go of the title—"
Slap!
A sharp sound echoed through the cavern.
A red handprint appeared on Fox's face.
"Marie of the Voodoo faction has lived for many years," Fiona said coldly.
"This is a world steeped in evil. Humanity could be wiped out at any moment by some summoning ritual."
"I have fought against darkness for years. No one but me is qualified to be the Supreme Witch."
"You only need to sacrifice your life force—to destroy the Church's Source Passage, to avenge a thousand years of bloodshed…"
"And in return, a Supreme Witch will become eternal. The world will gain lasting stability."
Her voice grew fervent, almost manic.
"Isn't that a fair exchange?"
Fox fell silent, her eyes filled with disappointment.
"My dear daughter… offer your life, and help me ascend the steps to godhood," Fiona said gently.
The pentagram blazed even brighter.
The spirits above surged with power.
---
At that moment, Gideon finally stood up.
He had been studying the sacred marrow all this time—and only recently managed to grasp part of its power.
"What is it, Mr. Gideon? Thinking of saving them?" Fiona asked, narrowing her eyes.
Gideon was about to answer—
Then suddenly paused.
A flicker of realization passed through his eyes.
When he spoke again, his words had changed.
"No, Miss Fiona. It is my honor to witness the rise of a powerful Supreme Witch."
Fiona frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I simply want to see how strong this formation truly is," Gideon said calmly. "After all… there may still be other threats here."
Her frown deepened.
She sensed something off—but saw nothing unusual around them.
"Stop speaking in riddles," she said coldly.
Gideon shrugged. "Those monsters earlier weren't normal. They were stronger than usual."
"So you've been here before."
"I've taken on a few monster-hunting commissions in the past, that's all."
He raised a finger.
"In any case… you've prepared this ritual for so long. I'm sure it's incredibly powerful."
"I'll be relying on you to protect me later."
Fiona let out a short, incredulous laugh.
At this point, there was no way things would end peacefully—they both knew it.
So what game was he playing now?
Unable to read him, she chose silence.
"You're not planning to use this formation against me, are you?" Gideon asked in a low voice.
Fiona looked at him deeply. "Of course not. With our relationship, I still need your help dealing with the Voodoo faction."
Fine. If you want to play, I'll play along, she thought, smiling.
Gideon patted his chest. "That's reassuring. My safety is in your hands then… O Eternal Supreme Witch."
---
In a shadowed corner of the cavern—
The black-robed skeleton watched everything silently.
"A pentagram… a trifling tool of hell."
It clenched its fist.
"These two aren't allies, yet they seem to be cooperating… a Supreme Witch, hm? Then I'll deal with her first."
---
Back in the cavern—
"Do you need anything else?" Fiona said coldly, clearly annoyed at how close Gideon was standing.
"My apologies," Gideon smiled, stepping back.
What a strange man…
At this point, the ritual had reached halfway completion.
Fiona suddenly dispelled the red barrier.
Then, commanding the spirits, she struck at a hidden formation in the corner.
"Hmph. How could I rest easy without removing your little setup?" she sneered.
But something unexpected happened.
The spirits' attack transformed into a wave of energy, redirected by the formation to another corner—where it exploded abruptly.
"…Your defenses are rather unimpressive," Fiona remarked dryly.
Gideon merely shrugged, a faint smile on his lips.
That was when Fiona realized something was wrong.
She turned toward the explosion—
Only to be met by a skeletal arm.
A violent impact followed.
When the dust settled, she rose from the rubble.
"What is this? Another guardian?" she asked, wary.
Before her stood a skeleton cloaked in black robes—emanating a sinister, evil aura. Clearly not of the Church.
"What are you? A wraith? A demon?" she demanded.
No answer came.
"Hey! Our Supreme Witch is talking to you—have some manners!" Gideon suddenly interjected.
This time, the black-robed skeleton reacted.
It turned its head, staring at Gideon for a long moment.
"Lady Witch, it's ignoring you!" Gideon added, as if tattling.
Fiona's expression darkened.
She couldn't tell what he was plotting—but this thing was clearly an enemy.
She immediately drove more power into the formation.
"Yes! That's it! Now that's the presence of a Supreme Witch!"
"Shut up!" Fiona snapped.
"Yes, ma'am."
At this point, Gideon looked like nothing more than a shameless troublemaker—one she dearly wanted to tear apart.
But the black-robed skeleton moved first.
Fiona raised her hand, immense energy gathering before her.
At the same time, unnoticed—
Gideon made a subtle gesture.
---
The skeleton closed in.
Just before their attacks collided—
The energy in front of Fiona suddenly reversed, flowing back into the pentagram.
Her eyes widened.
A far more violent collision erupted.
She was sent flying once again.
"Cough…!"
Struggling to stand, her arms were torn and bloodied—but she was still alive.
She glanced at the formation.
Jenny and Zoe stood there, alert—unaffected by the ritual.
"What did you do?" Fiona glared at Gideon.
He simply pointed elsewhere.
---
The black-robed skeleton stood there, power surging.
A serpent-shaped shadow coiled around its body, formed from pure malice.
"That form… you're Astaroth—the 29th-ranked demon!" Fiona's eyes widened.
"Hmph. You know your lore," the skeleton said in a low voice.
"Wait! I'm not with him!" she quickly tried to explain.
The skeleton ignored her.
"Gideon! What are you doing?! If I die, you won't escape either!" she shouted desperately.
"You're right," Gideon said calmly, producing four silver nails between his fingers.
The skeleton turned its gaze toward him.
In the next instant—
Gideon appeared beside Fiona.
Before she could react, he drove the nails into her body.
Her strength instantly drained, and she collapsed to the ground.
The black-robed skeleton remained still.
Though it had no eyes, a trace of confusion seemed to linger.
"Interesting… that female human wasn't wrong."
"Ah, well," Gideon nodded casually.
"With her around, I wouldn't be able to control the ritual."
The moment he finished speaking—
The witch spirits appeared beside the skeleton.
Blazing red light engulfed it.
A circular shockwave spread outward.
When the dust cleared, the skeleton stood once more.
Unharmed—but the serpent shadow had vanished.
"I will tear you apart with my own hands," it growled.
"You seem to hate me quite a bit," Gideon said with a smile.
"You're correct."
"But did you know… hatred itself is a kind of shackle?"
The black-robed skeleton showed a flicker of confusion.
But in the next instant, it realized—another skeleton had appeared beside it.
And it hadn't sensed it at all.
Before it could react, the Saint's remains had already seized its throat.
Threads of golden substance seeped into its bones.
A heartbeat later—
The black-robed skeleton let out a piercing, agonized shriek. Its aura turned chaotic and unstable.
Gideon remained on guard, then directed the Saint's remains to do the same to Fiona.
As the golden substance sank into her skin, the Supreme Witch's face twisted violently.
She tried to clutch her head—but the holy nails pinned her firmly in place.
Within moments, her expression went slack… her eyes losing all focus.
---
"W-What's happening to them?"
Jenny and Zoe approached together, confusion in their voices.
"They've fallen into their own mental prisons—the deepest, most painful parts of themselves," Gideon replied calmly. "They won't wake up anytime soon."
What he had used was Sacred Marrow.
A holy technique capable of transmitting sin—
Dragging its target into the most painful and rejected memories of their own past.
A prison of the mind, forged by themselves… to imprison their own souls.
It was something Gideon had only discovered after gaining control of the Saint's remains.
But its reserves were limited, and even using a fraction of it required immense holy power.
That was why he had waited—until both sides were weakened—before striking at the perfect moment.
---
Not long after, the black-robed skeleton dissipated as its evil aura ran dry.
Fiona, however, remained unconscious.
At the same time, Gideon reversed the formation, returning the stolen life force back to the witches.
Color slowly returned to their pale faces.
"It's up to you now," he said, looking at them.
Rather than making the decision himself, he chose to leave Fiona's fate in the hands of those she had betrayed.
---
After that, Gideon walked over to the stone well.
Holy light still flowed endlessly from within.
After a moment of thought, he decided to seal it for now.
Given how possessive the Church was, there was no way they would abandon a source of power like this.
Which meant—
This Source Passage was unlikely to be the only one.
Fiona's grand plan had been doomed from the very beginning.
"Better to investigate further before taking action…"
Since this mission involved the Saint's remains, Gideon had no intention of reporting it to the Church.
---
Moments later—
Several isolation arrays were set around the well.
Gideon then led the witches out of the cavern.
After they left, the ceiling began to collapse, quickly burying everything beneath.
That… was also his doing.
Too many people had been involved in this operation.
Keeping the well a secret would be nearly impossible.
So the best he could do was destroy the site—making it far harder for anyone else to find.
---
Soon, blinding sunlight fell upon them.
The Voodoo faction members waiting outside immediately surrounded the group.
When questioned, Gideon brushed them off with a vague explanation about the "return of a demon."
When Marie pressed further, he casually dropped the name "Papa Legba."
That was enough to silence her.
After giving Gideon a long, searching look, she finally led her people away.
---
A few days later—
Fox was elected as the new head of the academy.
And Gideon set off on his journey back.
At their farewell, Zoe tried several times to stop him.
But the memory of her ex-boyfriend—bleeding from every orifice—flashed in her mind.
In the end, she simply raised her hand and waved goodbye.
---
On the very day Gideon left—
Far from New Orleans, in another city—Los Angeles—
Inside an old, timeworn villa, a woman sat by a bed.
She looked strikingly similar to Fiona.
Before her stood a baby carriage, with a young boy inside.
The boy's hands were stained with blood.
Nearby, the body of a maid lay lifeless on the floor.
Yet the woman showed no sign of alarm.
She picked up a clean towel and gently wiped the boy's hands, her voice soft and soothing.
"Langdon… it's alright."