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1.

Duchess Blanche Erelim, also known as the ‘Witch of the Constellations’.

Having lived for nearly a thousand years, she was one of the oldest witches alive.

Although she spent most of her time secluding herself in her workshop within the academic society, her words carried weight throughout Gehenna. No one dared dismiss them lightly.

She was well-versed in all branches of magic, and her workshop was practically a treasure trove of research materials; from her personal findings to the theses of academic members, all these treasures were more precious to witches than heaps of gold.

Even grand witches longed for a glimpse of her library, while countless others sought her guidance.

But, despite Duchess Erelim’s standing, the murmurs in the conference room continued.

Instances where nobles got exiled were rare, while cases of purging were almost unheard of.

Also, Duchess Erelim was known as a staunch conservative who prioritized the rights of witches, so no one expected her to propose such an extreme measure.

At that moment, Deneb stood up hurriedly and spoke.

“Duchess Erelim, Gehenna owes much of its peace and prosperity to the Marigold Family’s dedication throughout history. Your suggestion seems to overlook that. If execution is to be considered, it should only happen after a proper trial.”

Although Countess Gemini and Amelia weren’t particularly close, they were acquaintances.

Even without knowing all the details, she didn’t want to see Amelia getting purged.

“I agree with Countess Gemini. An immediate purge is far too extreme of a punishment.”

“The full assessment of the threat hasn’t been determined yet. There’s still time to analyze and respond more carefully.”

Several witches backed Deneb’s argument.

A witch killing another witch was an entirely different matter from a witch killing a human, this was common sense to the witches.

Just the notion itself stirred a deep, instinctive sense of unease in their heart.

Even with the growing dissent, Deneb couldn’t relax.

Because most of the witches speaking up weren’t members of the Jinri Jinmyeong Academic Society.

The duchess listened calmly to the opposing voices, her gaze steady and unwavering.

Her expression remained unreadable, like a mask.

After a moment, she nodded slightly and spoke.

“Your points are valid. However, since time is of the essence, let me first present the data that we currently have before we continue this discussion.”

A large projection appeared above Duchess Erelim’s palm.

It resembled a holographic screen, displaying the chaotic state of Tarot Town.

“I will explain the information in detail.”

Countess Yvonne Kohav, the vice-president of the academic society and Erelim’s close confidant, stepped forward.

“I’ll provide a brief update on the spatial anomalies in Tarot Town and our projections moving forward.”

With a flick of her finger, Countess Kohav rewound the footage in the projection.

Said footage, recorded in real-time by an observatory near Tarot Town, not only showed the events as they unfolded but also displayed measurements from magical observations.

“The observed time of the incident is 00:04:35 AM, during the Harvest Festival fireworks show. At this exact time, Baroness Amelia Marigold’s self-essence magic, ‘Particles,’ began to disperse. Initially, these were uncrystallized, microscopic particles...”

The screen transitioned to another clip.

It now showed rain falling under the still-glowing embers of the night sky.

“By 00:13:33 AM, the rain intensified as mana activity surged. According to records about the former Marigold, she used magic that dispersed self-essenced mana particles, allowing her to dominate space. In essence, she could control any area the rain touched.”

The footage showed rain spreading out from the center of Tarot Town, eventually covering the entire area before stopping.

“At 00:14:20 AM, in less than a minute, the entire town came under her control. That’s when the anomaly occurred. The distortion of space.”

As Countess Kohav explained, the expanding magic was behaving unnaturally, as if it was grinding to a halt.

“At 00:15:04 AM, for unknown reasons, a force pushing outward clashed with one holding it back. This created a superimposed mana space, leading to a phenomenon known as spatial randomization.”

This much was already common knowledge among everyone in the room.

While spatial randomization was rare, its peculiar nature made it well-known.

“Spatial randomization has little effect on the human body. Humans either have no mana or only negligible amounts, so they might lose consciousness at best, but it’s not harmful. It’s in line with what the report states, ‘it hasn’t harmed the citizens so far,’ but please take a look at this.”

The cube that was displaying the horizontal footage vanished, replaced by another one.

This one provided a bird-eye’s view of the scene, as if the footage was taken from above.

“Duchess Erelim was the one who personally recorded this particular footage.”

A murmur spread among the witches as they watched the footage.

It was because this bird-eye’s view strongly suggested this incident was no simple mishap.

A black hole. It was like they were staring at one.

The closer to the distorted center of Tarot Town, the clearer the swirling black circle could be seen.

Its core was so dark and dense, even light seemed to be sucked in, making it impossible to see with the naked eye.

“As of 00:15:04 AM, the anomaly’s outward expansion has stopped. However, for some unknown reason, the randomization worsens the closer you get to the center.”

Hearing this, Countess Yesod sighed in frustration and tossed her pen onto the table.

She had been painstakingly working on decoding the randomization patterns, but this new revelation rendered all her efforts useless.

“This doesn’t make sense. Spatial randomization usually affects all coordinates equally, no? Once it spreads, it’ll just turn into what essentially is a binary state of existence or nonexistence... But for it to intensify toward the center...”

One of the witches spoke up, voicing the question on everyone’s mind.

The one who answered her wasn’t Countess Kohav, but Duchess Erelim.

“That’s exactly why I’ve proposed this rather extreme solution. If this is just a simple case of spatial randomization, we could take a more moderate approach. We’d have more time, and we could chalk this up as an unfortunate accident.”

Duchess Erelim stood up from her seat.

“However, as you can see, this is no ordinary randomization. Baroness Marigold is freely casting spells within it, and the footage shows clear signs of spatial collapse as a result.

“Her magic will continue to slowly expand, and within an hour, it will engulf the entirety of Tarot Town.

“Right now, we’re barely holding things together, but as the collapse spreads, it’s obvious that we’ll eventually lose control of it.

“At that point, whatever her motives and goals are won’t matter anymore

“If we just let it be, it’ll expand until it reaches its limit—which we don’t know of, and chances are it could lead to the collapse of the barrier protecting all of Gehenna.”

An uneasy silence filled the room.

No one spoke. Some witches swallowed their gasps while others nervously ran their hands through their hair.

“As I mentioned earlier, this is only one of the reasons. During my investigation, I tried two things.

“First, I used magic to suppress the phenomenon. It didn’t work.

“Second, I sent a warning to the baroness at the center of the collapse. She gave me no response.

“These two measures were my attempts at a moderate approach.”

Finally, Duchess Erelim pulled out a stack of documents.

“Lastly, this is the final reason behind my decision. These documents are immigration logs of Gehenna’s ‘Gate’ from the past year. The baroness left for the modern world, but there’s no record of her return. In other words, she re-entered illegally through a backdoor.”

The moment she finished her words, witches who were on Deneb’s side, those who had shown hesitation about executing Amelia, felt it.

At least half the room’s opinion had shifted in favor of Duchess Erelim.

While there might be lingering doubts still, and a better solution to the situation might exist...

No one could propose a better plan faster than Duchess Erelim could pass her judgment.

Besides, if the spatial collapse and erosion continued to spread in Gehenna, which relied on its delicate pocket-dimension stability, as the duchess warned, the worst-case scenario could unfold.

“The nobles of Gehenna are witches who played crucial roles in its prosperity. I understand why some of you may disagree with my stance.

No matter the circumstances, the burden of killing one of our own is heavy.”

Seeing the opinions converge, the duchess drove her point further home.

“I recently received confirmation from the Oracles. Duchess Keter is no longer active. Considering the past few decades and the current situation, I believe many of you have suspected this.”

Duchess Keter.

That name lingered in the minds of many witches even now.

Why had she, who was always the first to act when her rules were broken, remained silent for so long?

Various rumors were already circulating in the world.

People’s claim that she was unable to act for some unknown reason spread widely.

But there was a vast difference between rumor and an official statement from someone as influential as Duchess Erelim.

As the room teetered on the edge of chaos, Duchess Erelim’s calm yet commanding voice brought it back under control.

“Duchess Keter was the foundation of the system that supported witch society. But, that system has now collapsed.

“Without it, chaos sown by Criminal Exiles will escalate, while the other Exiles will grow bolder.

“That’s why now is the time to act decisively.

“As witches, our magical innovation must be built on a foundation of stability and control.

“We must show Gehenna and the world that we can maintain order even without Duchess Keter.

“I firmly believe this is the path for us witches and for Gehenna.

“If none of you are willing to bear the burden of spilling our kin’s blood, I will take the lead.”

A strong voice, firm conviction, and solid evidence combined with a righteous cause.

No one in the room dared to oppose Duchess Erelim.

“The abnormal magical incident will stabilize once the mana source is removed.

“However, since the space is randomized and there are citizens nearby, we’ll make a calculation for a precise strike.

“The calculator will take 30 minutes, and during that time, we’ll give Baroness Marigold one last chance to surrender.”

No one objected.

Deneb immediately sent a message to her older sister, Albireo.