Release That Witch

Chapter 159: The Most Powerful Persuasion

heo had informed Roland about the situation in detail, prior to Roland’s meeting with the new witch.

He had not expected that the long-lost Tilly Wimbledon would have become the leader of another witch organization. What was more, she had already recruited more than half of the witches in the Kingdom of Graycastle. And the more intolerable thing was, now she actually wanted to expand her power in his territory.

Nightingale had informed him that this witch was an Extraordinary, and her ability was likely to be combat type.

Any Extraordinary was worthy of careful treatment. Therefore, when he met with Ashes in the office, Roland had Nightingale standing by, invisible. He also arranged for Anna to be nearby, just in case. In front of the desk, there were several extremely slender Blackfires, it looked like a wall, undetectable to the naked eye. If she dared to rush at Roland, these fires would tear her into several pieces.

When combat witches were not wearing the God’s Stone of Retaliation they were not dominant in a civil war, but once they wore the stone, they possessed an unrestricted, destructive power. Fortunately, God’s Stone was hated by the vast majority of witches. Ashes had probably taken this point into account, and was not carrying the church’s iconic item when she came to Border Town to recruit witches.

“Your witches?! Don’t be so arrogant,” Ashes said coldly, “They’re living people, not your personal belongings!”

Roland felt suddenly choked by her words. This was the first time he had suffered from a feeling of failure in eloquence since he had arrived here. He was used to saying words like “my subjects” and “my people”, however, he was now being criticized unpredictably for his democratic speech. He felt extremely embarrassed. Although in the practice of this era, there was nothing wrong with words like “lord” and “territory”, it was not wise to emphasize this point in front of Nightingale and Anna. It seemed that these words brought the wrong type of emotion.

So he coughed twice, acting as naturally as he could and then he said, “I never thought that way. It’s their will to stay in the town, and I believe that this is the best place for them. As for the Fjords, the weather there is unpredictable, and you suffer from storms and tsunamis all year round. Plus, the Fjords are very dangerous, so it isn’t really a suitable place to live.”

“But at least the power of the church is minimal there. Witches are able to build their own homes, and using their power, they can resist natural disasters. There’s no way to resist the church with the God’s Stone of Retaliation, let alone resist God’s Punishment Army,” Ashes said without any mercy, “Do you know how foolish you are to do so? The news you spread will only lure the church to you. To be honest. I think that you have no chance of winning against God’s Punishment Army. You should let the witches leave your territory, and avoid the tragedy that’ll inevitably happen.”

Roland had heard about the intelligence of God’s Punishment Army from Wendy. He knew that to persuade her with power would be much more efficient than any words could be. Of course, he could choose to completely ignore Ashes. If he were to do so, it would mean completely giving up the witches under Tilly Wimbledon. Although there was little hope, he still wanted to try.

“How many God’s Punishment Army soldiers can you fight at one time?” he asked.

Ashes looked puzzled, but finally stretched out three fingers. “If there’re three of them I think I can cope okay.”

“Then let’s have a duel,” Roland sat up straight and said seriously, “Let the results tell you if I could win against the God’s Punishment Army.”

“What, what’re you suggesting?” Ashes asked. She was shocked momentarily, but then her cold face finally gave way to a different expression.

“A fair duel, one to one,” he said, “If I can beat you, it’ll prove that I have the ability to resist the church, OK?”

Ashes’ facial expression showed that she thought he was crazy. She asked, “Just you and me? Or do you want the witches to fight?”

“No, of course not me. And not the witches either. God’s Punishment Army would have the God’s Stone of Retaliation,” Roland said smiling. “Your opponent is an ordinary knight.”

Although it was regrettable that he could not personally fight in this battle, he knew that the opponent was an Extraordinary, with superb power. From the description he had gotten from Wendy, he knew that this Extraordinary had killed all her enemies in the cloister and escaped the God’s Punishment Army’s chase. Even if she held only a wooden sword or even without weapons, she would unleash her full lethality. Also, the actual effect of the pistol needed to be developed. For safety reasons, he decided he would give this glorious task to Carter. If he had been holding an AK47, he would fight her Ashes himself.

“An ordinary knight…” Ashes said and then she recovered her original cold face. “If I win, will you let the witches go with me?”

“Of course not. Just like if you lose, you would never force Tilly to bring her witches to Border Town, right?”

“So what’s the purpose of this duel?” asked Ashes.

“It’s not a battle but a test,” Roland answered, “The purpose is to show you that I won’t lose when I face the church. And if you lose in this battle, you’ll naturally remember that when you’re back, if you can’t stay in the Fjords, there’s a border in the west where witches can live comfortably. Of course, if you win, at least it’ll be more convincing when you persuade Wendy and others.

“I won’t lose,” said Ashes, “Tell your knight to come at once.”

“Not now.” Roland waved his hand dismissively. “In a week, I’ll finish the preparation for the duel. During this week, you can live in the castle, and experience life in this small town with the witches. Maybe you’ll change your views.” “During this week, you can live in the castle, and experience life in this small town with the witches. Maybe you’ll change your views.”

She stared at the prince for a while, then nodded. “Perhaps it won’t take seven days. They’ll change their views, and leave Border Town with me.

Roland shrugged.

When she turned back to the door, he suddenly stopped her and asked, “Wait… Have we met somewhere before?”

Although he had never seen her face before, from the shape of her back, there was a sense of familiarity. Roland slightly recalled in his memory, this sense of familiarity seemed to come from the king’s city.

“Didn’t the guards tell you?” She did not look back. “Back in the palace, if Tilly hadn’t stopped me, I’m afraid that you would have only one hand.”

After the door to the office closed, Nightingale appeared whistling. “Did you grab her ass before too?”

“What?” Roland was astonished. “I don’t remember this kind of person being in the palace. And what do you mean by ‘too’?”

Nightingale made a face, he discerned it was “Tyre”. To hell with her. Although he really had touched the maid’s ass, it was a situation that he failed to see anything wrong with it, many others did it as well. Nightingale still owed him credit for her peeping.

“Ahem.” Anna interrupted their talking. “Are you sure that the knight will defeat the Extraordinary? If he fails, it may affect other witches’ confidence in you.”

Fortunately, Anna looked calm, so Roland was relieved. “The self-strengthening type of witch isn’t affected by God’s Stone of Retaliation, but she can still fight based on her physical function. Compared to our weapons which can shoot rapidly, her defect is obvious. We have a 70 percent chance of winning.”

But he would have to complete the development of ammunition within a week.

Chapter 160: The Confrontation

oland had been thinking about bullets for the revolving firearms. Circular lead bullets and loose gunpowder were an arrangement that was simply too backward. Taking Anna’s ability into consideration, the direct manufacture of copper shells for ammunition was technically feasible. The key concern was that there did not have a reliable primer to ignite the black gunpowder in the cartridge for reliable firing.

In early times, the outer shell of the ammunition was generally made out of mercury fulminate which was extremely sensitive to impact. When one pulled the trigger, it would stimulate the firing pin, and hit the base of the bullet. The mercury fulminate would flare up, igniting the black powder, and eject the bullet from the chamber.

It was unfortunate that even after breaking his head over it, he still could not recall the necessary raw materials he needed for the mercury fulminate. From a literal point of view, he would definitely need nitric acid and mercury. However, if he looked at the result of the chemical equation he had written down, it became apparent that these two substances would only produce nitric acid together.

In addition, knowing the raw materials was not equal to the successful production of finished products. Roland would still have to discover the right concentration and temperature for the reactive process, and whether he still needed to add another catalyst or not were also key factors in the production of the finished product. Moreover, because of the sensitive properties of mercury, it was easy to trigger an explosion during the manufacturing process. If it exploded one could easily lose a few fingers, so Roland was afraid of trying it out personally.

So, Roland had no alternative but to settle for the second-best option, using metal shells but keeping the old flintlock ignition. This required that the spark could enter the interior of the shell to ignite the gunpowder. So, he had to leave a hole in the bottom of the shell, but he still had to find a method which would prevent the gunpowder from leaking.

Obviously, these two points were contradictory to each other: the greater the opening, the faster the leakage of gunpowder. Yet if the opening was too small, it would become too difficult for the spark to ignite the gunpowder.

He needed something that would allow the spark to ignite the powder, while at the same time blocking the hole, to prevent the leakage of gunpowder.

Roland’s first thought was nitrocotton, also known as guncotton.

It was one of the few chemicals which he still remembered that could be used for weapons because it had such a simple production method: the cotton just had to be soaked in two strong acids. The two acids it used were the commonly available sulfuric acid and nitric acid, and there would be no danger involved in producing them. Even though he had wanted to wait for the hopefully soon, arriving alchemist, he now had a deadline of seven days. It was time to roll up his sleeves and get to work.

Taking the quill, Roland began to write down his long-standing idea on draft paper.

The first ingredient he needed was cotton, and the best cotton was yarn that had not been woven or dyed. It was exactly this kind that he had brought back with him from his visit to Duke Ryan’s castle, and was now also piling up in his warehouse. The cotton yarn needed to be skimmed. Otherwise the grease attached to its surface would prevent the nitrification. He was already familiar with the material required for removing the oil, which was sodium hydroxide, also known as lye or caustic soda. It was also one of the raw materials needed for making soap. To produce soap, one had to add fat to caustic soda, and then stir it until it became solid. Afterward it could be used as washing soap. But Roland had been too busy developing industrial and agricultural technology and defending Border Town against foreign enemies. He had not found any time to invent this kind of daily necessity yet.

As for how to prepare sodium hydroxide, the simplest method was probably to electrolyze salt water. So the prince found that in order to build a new bullet, the first thing he had to develop was a DC generator.

Ashes walked along Redwater River, feeling somewhat depressed.

Since the other witches now knew that she had come to Border Town to take the witches of the Witch Cooperation Association away, their attitude towards her had cooled down considerably. There was no longer any of the warmth she had received last night.

Moreover, she noted that most of the witches practiced their ability in the castle backyard. Roland had also found the way to avoid suffering the demonic bite. Originally Ashes had wanted to use this vital piece of intelligence to show her goodwill toward the other witches, but that plan had been unexpectedly shattered right from the beginning. She had nearly nothing else left to persuade them to move.

What surprised Ashes the most was Roland Wimbledon. His appearance had not changed much, but there was an indescribable temperament in his gestures, very different from his previous image as a dandy.

How could this be? Previously, he had been fairly incompetent. When he was in trouble the first thing for him would be to escape, he had never stood up for others, and even if a problem was clearly caused by him, he had been afraid to take on any responsibility. That time when he had thought about harassing her, she only needed to throw him a hateful look, to make him fall to the ground in panic. But she had later heard from Tilly, that he had claimed that he had fallen by accident, and that Princess Tilly was at fault for having such an ugly woman as her personal guard?

Since then, Ashes’ impression of Prince Roland had fallen to the lowest possible ranking.

Previously she had believed that such a type of person would be easy for her to handle, but during today’s negotiation she had failed to gain the upper hand. Especially after he suggested a one-on-one duel, she discovered that her threat of using military force would not work, since he had not thought about escaping. Instead, it might even have had the complete opposite effect. Threatening him personally had also reduced the other witches positive impressions on her.

Ashes sighed. If she could be as smart as Tilly, every problem that appeared before her could be easily solved. If Tilly were faced with a situation like this, she would surely have been able to come up with a solution, right? If she had not wanted to help Tilly as much as possible, Ashes would have taken the next ship heading to Port of Clearwater and left the Kingdom of Graycastle as soon as possible.

Unconsciously, she found herself outside the town. On the other side of the river, there was no longer a lush wheat field, but instead unclaimed woodland.

When Ashes was ready to turn back, she suddenly felt the fluctuation of magic power behind her. Subconsciously turning her head, she saw a dagger coming directly towards her cheek, slicing horizontally. The magic power fluctuation had transformed into surging waves, and Ashes suddenly felt a piercing pain in her cheek. The other person’s systematic and coherent skills were clearly nothing one could expect from an ordinary person. Ashes no longer hesitated. Putting aside her passive attitude, she concentrated on avoiding the dagger. She put all her strength on one foot and jumped out of the way.

Her opponent disappeared into thin air, and then appeared behind her within a blink of an eye. Ashes was totally unable to follow her opponent’s movement.

She drew her giant sword and rotated quickly, creating a dull roaring sound. Dust rose up from the ground. She launched an all-directional attack with her sword but the enemy evaded. In front of this unknown enemy, even this trick attack of hers ended in complete failure. When her sword swept through the attacker’s vanishing position, it encountered nothing.

“This is terrible,” she thought. Every muscle in her body became tight, and she was ready to encounter the next round of attacks, but then the shadow disappeared in front of her. Dust settled slowly, and the person again appeared near Ashes, playing with the dagger she held in her hand.

It was Nightingale.

“Is this a warning?” Ashes asked, frowning.

“Of course not,” Nightingale said, putting her dagger back on her waist. “I just wanted to see the strength of an Extraordinary.”

“Really? I thought that you wanted to say…”

“Do you think I would force you into leaving Border Town so quickly, or otherwise be rude to you?” Nightingale interrupted her. “If that was the case, there would be no difference between Cara and me.”

Cara? Why would she mention the former leader of the Witch Cooperation Association? Ashes was confused.

“You can rest assured that I won’t hinder you from approaching any of my sisters. If anyone is willing to leave with you, I don’t think His Royal Highness will stop you. I certainly won’t. But…” Nightingale paused. “If you threaten to hurt His Highness, I guarantee you that next time I won’t be deliberately stabbing the air beside you.” Here she grinned and then disappeared into thin air. “Enjoy your time in Border Town.”

Sure enough, it was a warning. Ashes shook her head.

Chapter 161: Alchemy and Chemistry

oland had known from his childhood experience back in the modern world, that DC generators were simple machines working on simple principles. He had disassembled a dozen of motors from his four-wheel-drive toy cars, including both ordinary whiteboard motors and legendarily high-performance Jinchaoba motors, and he had wound rotor copper wires by hand… All of them had been typical DC motors.

Based on his knowledge, DC motors had the same structure as DC generators, and they were basically the same thing. A DC motor, added a mechanism for driving its motor rotor, could double as a DC generator. The rotor, namely the conductor, constantly rotating inside a magnetic field and cutting the magnetic lines, would cause electric current to flow.

With the help of Mystery Moon and Anna, Roland spent only half a day building a simple DC motor in an easy, quick way. Besides the metal rotor part, he made a stator out of wood simply by asking Mystery Moon to add magnetism to it and chose a section of a log for commutator base. He embedded motor commutating segments into the log where there was a hole allowing itself to be connected to the rotor of a steam engine. Such formation was convenient to be built and ensured that segments were insulated from each other.

After that, it was Anna’s job to make the new type steam engine. Roland and Mystery Moon just stood by, watching her wondrous skills. Every time she needed to make large machine parts, she would start up by spreading her Blackfire to wrap up a pile of iron ingots. She would burn and melt them first, and then she would squeeze the Blackfire to press the metal into plates with demanded sizes. In the end, she would cut the parts she wanted out of those plates.

The next day, when Roland was going to test the generator in the calcination room, his guard brought him a piece of exciting good news. The Chief Alchemist of Redwater City’s alchemical workshop had arrived at Border Town, with lots of people following him.

After reading Roland’s letter at the night, Kyle Sichi had made up his mind to leave for Border Town. The very next day afternoon, he had boarded a merchant ship to the town with his family and a dozen of his students. Unfortunately, Chavez, his best student, had refused to join him after a long period of hesitation.

Kyle had not leaked the content of the letter to the other alchemists, as the more alchemists knew about it, the more delayed his departure would be. He had also worried about the duke. Hearing the news about the success of crystal glass, he must want to hold the lucrative luxury goods business firmly in his own hands and stop him from leaving the city.

As payback for the duke’s generous investment in building the alchemical workshop, Kyle had left a parchment recording the formula and firing process of crystal glass in his drawer in the workshop. He had been so eager to find out those alchemical answers in Border Town that neither crystal glass nor alchemical workshop had been able to stop him.

Five days later, Kyle finally met Roland Wimbledon, the Lord of Border Town and the one who had written the letter to him.

In a reception hall of the lord’s castle, Kyle bowed to Roland and then hurriedly opened his mouth to make a request as soon as he sat down. “Your Highness, if you don’t mind, I’d like very much to meet and talk with your alchemists.”

“My alchemists? There’re no alchemists in Border Town before your arrival. But now, you’re my alchemist,” Roland chuckled and said.

“You mean… those alchemical equations were written by you?” Kyle directly neglected the prince’s last sentence and turned a little pale. At the moment, another possibility struck him. [Prince Roland must have learned those alchemical things from his court mentors. Given that the prince knew that much, the Alchemist Workshop of the king’s city must have already mastered the rules of alchemy. If that’s true, it would be ridiculous to say that I wish to be ranked above them.]

“Well, not exactly. Those equations are recorded in ancient books which are over 400 years old. I just happened to find them. This knowledge seems to be called ‘chemistry’ at that time,” Roland answered.

“Che-Chemistry?” Kyle felt much relieved, hearing that those equations were not written by the Alchemist Workshop of the king’s city, but he was still shocked at the prince’s reply. He wondered who had written those books 400 years ago, as even the king’s city’s Alchemist Workshop only had a history of nearly 200 years. He also found it hard to believe that the alchemists now knew even less than their predecessors.

“Yes. The authors suggested a hypothesis in their books, dubbed mass conservation law. The substances forming the world never disappear or increase. Instead, they only transform from one type to another. Take this piece of cake as an example.” Roland pointed to the cake on the long table and continued, “When you eat it, part of it’ll be absorbed by your body and the rest of it will be excreted. The mass of what you absorb plus the mass of what you excrete equals the mass of the original cake.”

“Wait… Your Highness.” After a thought, Kyle continued, “If I burn a piece of wood into ashes, no matter how to weigh, the weight of the ashes will be lighter than that of the wood. If the substances never disappear, where’s the missing substances?”

“The books explained it, too. The missing weight is substances that become gas and vapor during the burning. The residue left behind is the ashes you can see,” Roland explained with a smile.

“Gas?” Kyle caught a sudden inspiration in his mind and asked, “does the air have weight?”

“Of course, each matter has a mass.” The prince nodded and continued to explain, “It’s easy to prove this point. You can put some sawdust in a bottle and cork up it. Weigh the bottle on a scale. After the scale balances, burn the sawdust inside. You’ll see the scale remain balancing finally, as the gas and vapor can’t escape from the bottle. All the mass is still inside of it.”

“That’s… also recorded in the ancient books? Could you please let me read those books?” Kyle anxiously asked.

“Yes, as long as you can promise me a few things,” Roland said while spreading his hands.

“Please, go ahead.”

“First, you have to work for me. You’ll be paid as much as you were in the Alchemic Workshop of Redwater City. Second, once you accept the job, you need to comply with my confidentiality regulations. That means that you can’t disclose any details of your work to the other alchemists. Third, if you agree to work for me, we’ll sign a five-year contract. Five years later, you can choose to stay or leave. Besides, you’re no longer subject to confidentiality clauses and are able to show your work results to the other alchemists and alchemists guilds. Accordingly, if you accept these three conditions, Border Town will provide you a house and a chemical laboratory, and I’ll lend you the book, ‘Elementary Chemistry’. If you find something in the book difficult to understand, you can come to ask me.”

Kyle thought, [Those conditions sound not harsh, except for some awkward terms like confidentiality regulations and chemical laboratories. But it isn’t hard to understand the general meaning. Five years isn’t too long. I thought the lord was going to ask me to stay in Border Town forever.]

In fact, Kyle was so determined and eager to read the book about the essence of alchemy that he was ready to accept any harsh terms.

Thinking of these, Kyle rose and slightly bent forward, saying, “Your Highness, I’m at your service.”

The prince did not seem to care much about etiquette, either and directly said, “Good, that’s it. Your workplace is by Redwater River. After we sign the contract, I’ll show you the laboratory and introduce the usage of the glassware and its operation regulations to you, and then you’ll know how to work in the lab.”

Hearing that, the chief alchemist could not help wondering why the prince sounded so skillful and confident while talking about alchemy after he was a common noble who just happened to read something in an ancient book. Knowing it was not yet the time to think about this, Kyle neglected his doubts and asked, “Your Highness, what you need me to make for you?”

“Yes, an acid solution with a high concentration. Produce as much as you can,” the Prince replied.

Chapter 162: The Pistol Drills

quot;Liar,” Nightingale said when she went back to the office with Roland after the meeting with the alchemist. “There aren’t any 450-year-old ancient books. Was it not you who wrote Elementary Chemistry and asked Scroll to memorize the textbook? Didn’t you intend that the book become part of teaching materials for subjects sooner or later?”

“It’s a white lie.” Before Roland continued to explain this to Nightingale, he picked up his cup to sip his tea. After the merchant from the king’s city, Margaret, had presented him with a packet of black tea, he had happily said goodbye to those days with only plain boiled water and ale to drink. “How else could I explain to him that a prince living in a palace knows that much about alchemy? If there were a prince like that, he would have learned everything from the alchemists of the king’s city. Giving him a book to study by himself is more fitting, compared to learning the knowledge directly from me. After all, like everyone else, he would trust himself the most.”

“Oh?” Nightingale suddenly leaned forward to get close to Roland. “Then who was your teacher, really?”

“Um…” The moment Roland opened his mouth, Nightingale pressed a finger against his lips and said, “If you don’t want to tell me, don’t say anything. I don’t want to hear you lie.”

Roland blinked his eyes as a promise, and Nightingale took back her hand.

“There’re only five days before the planned duel.” Roland took this opportunity to change a topic. “It’s time to let Carter get familiar with the new weapon.”

“But you said that there was an ammunition problem.”

“The guncotton problem will only cause inconvenience in battles. It’s just a match. He doesn’t need to think about ammunition transportation or reloading problems. He can shoot at least one round with each gun. 10 shots will be enough for us to test the new weapons,” Roland said. Actually, a lack of guncotton might also bring down the hit rate of the weapon, but Roland chose to leave that to luck and Carter.

Out of the town, a site to the west of the city wall was chosen for drills before the duel.

Carter arrived at the former explosive trial blasting site to accept the new task from Roland.

“Fight against a witch? Could I wear God’s Stone of Retaliation?” The chief knight asked, stunned after hearing the task.

“Of course, but you’re going to fight against a special witch. She won’t be affected by God’s Stone of Retaliation and she fights with a large sword, similar to a knight,” said Roland, smiling.

“You mean, she’s a witch who’s excellent at close combat skills?” Carter asked while glancing at Nightingale, who was standing beside Roland.

“Something likes that. Her ability is to strengthen herself, so she’s more powerful and faster than ordinary people. You have to be well prepared. Her physical strength is several times greater than that of the drugged death row convicts during the test on pills.” Roland said.

“Several times greater… Your Highness, do you know what that means?” Carter widened his eyes. “I may not be able to react, even if I do see her moves. If she’s really that powerful, I’m afraid that I can’t defeat her.”

“Theoretically speaking, you have no chance of winning the duel.” The prince gave Carter a strange-looking firearm and continued, “But this thing will greatly increase your winning probability.”

“Is this… a new type of flintlock?” Carter received the weapon with both hands and asked. The knight thought it must be something like a flintlock, as it had similar trigger and barrel. Smaller as it was, it weighed heavily on his hand and could have even been heavier than a flintlock. The most striking feature of this new weapon was that it was completely made of metal, except for the wooden handle. Carter found it hard to describe in words the aesthetic feeling aroused by the weapon’s smooth lines and corners and its offwhite metallic luster.

He loved this new weapon the moment he saw it.

“It’s called revolver.” Roland took out another similar weapon and flipped a honeycomb-like revolver out of the left side of the gun. “Now, I’ll teach you how to use it.”

Soon, Carter found out that it was actually easier to operate than a flintlock. As its bullets and gunpowder were fully connected to each other, he could directly embed them into its revolver to fire. As there were together five holes in the revolver, he could shoot five shots after each reloading. He thought this might be the reason for which the weapon was called revolver. On the other side of the revolver, there was a little hole opposite to the runner. Sparks could be seen flying out of this hole when he pulled the trigger, during which he could hear the sounds of friction. He guessed that it might have flint inside. What impressed him the most was the bullets. Their light golden, streamlined shells seemed to be made of a thin copper layer. He could not see any gap on the smooth surface. Each bullet was pointed on one end, with the opposite end thick as his index finger. They precisely fit into the hole in the revolver. Amazed by the design, he wondered how could such delicate things be manufactured.

“This one isn’t a finished product yet. You have to pay attention to the opened parts in the bottom of the bullets. Point slightly downward to prevent the gunpowder from leaking out, like I’m doing now. Remember to clean the cartridge in the runner after each round of shooting, just in case there’s some gunpowder left in the holes,” Roland said while performing the demo.

“It’s not a finished product?”

“That’s correct.” The prince shrugged. “We’re stilling working on a key technology. If everything goes smoothly, you may be able to use the finished product for the duel. When that happens, you won’t have to worry about the leaking problem anymore, as bullets will no longer have openings on the bottom. Now, let’s begin our target practice.”

[How will the gunpowder inside the bullet shell be ignited if there’s no opening in the bottom?] Carter felt confused, but he quickly decided to let it be. He knew that he would never think of the right answer to such a difficult question, as he was not a brilliant man of wide learning like His Highness.

[His Highness is really knowledgeable.] Carter now harbored immense respect for the versatile prince. Among all the court mentors, alchemy masters, and astrologers he knew, he was unable to find anyone so capable of inventing so many strange but highly practical things like His Highness. The steam engine he created had been put to use in the mines, transporting ores and drawing water. Even his flintlocks and cannons had defeated demonic beasts and Duke Ryan’s Coalition. By contrast, the other inventions, such as snow powder and the manned kites which had ended up being nobles’ toys were so impractical. Carter firmly believed that Roland Wimbledon would eventually sit on the throne of the Kingdom of Graycastle.

The human body shaped target 15 meters away looked only as big as his palm. Following the prince’s instructions, Carter turned his upper body slightly to one side to precisely aim the revolver at the target and pulled the trigger.

Smoke and several sparks gushed out from both sides of the revolver and deafening sounds caused a pain in his ears. He felt as if he was being pushed firmly back by someone. His wrists were thrown up uncontrollably by the strong knock-back. However, after the smoke of gunpowder vanished, the target still remained intact.

“Go on,” Roland said.

Carter took a deep breath and then shot the remaining bullets, but none of the four shots hit the target.

“This is…” Carter looked at His Highness who did not seem to care very much about the results.

“A pistol can never compete with a rifle when it comes to shooting range and accuracy because of its short barrel. It’s not a very strange thing to miss the target when shooting a pistol. Its caliber is nearly 12mm, so its knock-back is much stronger than that of a flintlock.” Carter felt that Roland’s explanations were hard to follow. “To put it simply, just keep practicing following the steps I taught you until you can hit the target in all the five shots. This is the only way for you to win the duel. By the way… remember to collect all the shells. They can be refilled and reused many times.”

Chapter 163: The Witch Maggie

shes sat on top of the castle, waiting for the day of the duel.

These days she had no progress with her proposals. The witches of the Witch Cooperation were much more stubborn than expected. Whether it came to the aged Scroll or the underaged Lily, all of her invitations were refused. The only difference was the way that she was rejected.

Some witches stayed because of Roland, and some decided not to part with the sisters of the Witches Cooperation Association, resulting in a tight-knit group of 10 witches. She had even less will to try at Anna and Nana, the original witches from Border Town. Ashes felt that the magic power of these witches was different somehow, especially Anna’s. Standing in front of her, Ashes could feel that her magic power was hard as steel, smooth and dense, standing between them like an iron wall.

Among the many witches gathered by Tilly, there had been no other witch that made her feel this way. When she asked other witches here about it, they stated that Anna’s ability was to control flames, something rather typical. Why she felt that a real barrier existed in the magic power of those invisible flames, Ashes had not a clue.

The town was also different than the other towns and villages she had seen before. To say it simply, there was a greater vitality. People seemed to have endless activities each and every day.

From the top of the castle, she had a panoramic view of the entire town. The most crowded area in the center of the town was where new houses were being built. They had split the whole area into small districts, with the houses of each district looking mostly alike. Horse-led carriages were continuously transporting bricks from the north. Masons first dug a dozen or so similar looking pits and then began to build a brick foundation. This construction was surprisingly fast, and in about a day the foundation would be approximately half the height of a man.

And when Ashes looked to the northeast smoke billowed up into the sky, it was not a result of a forest fire, but because of the work at the brick kiln. There were also a number of sturdy brick towers that had been erected. At first glance, they seemed like piles of lumber from giant red trees.

On the side of the riverside pier, groups of sailing ships arrived at Border Town daily. From looking at the banners hanging on the masts a majority of the ships had come from Longsong Stronghold. The goods unloaded from the ship almost filled the yard, and around the area guards patrolled holding wooden spears. Unlike most cities’ garrisons, they were not alternating between lazy walking and resting, nor were they simply looking for a place to hide and take a nap. Rather, they paced between the pier and the yard, keeping always in a straight line. Sometimes they would also stop to help unload goods from the ships, which was something that Ashes could not recall having ever seen the likes of before.

[Just what sort of magic power does Roland Wimbledon possess that he can create such enthusiasm in his subjects as they build up this desolate and barren town?] Ashes wondered.

At that moment, the coo of a bird was heard above Ashes’ head. She raised her head and saw a fat pigeon fly down from the sky and land on her shoulder.

“I finally found you, coo.” The pigeon rubbed her cheek.

“Did Tilly send you?” Ashes took some wheat out of her pocket and tossed it onto the roof.

The pigeon fluttered past her when it seemed like it suddenly remembered something. “I’m not a bird, coo!”

“Then just change into a person and then talk to me.”

“Fine, coo.” The voice faded and then the pigeon’s feathers suddenly swelled out, a white light shining between the gaps in the feathers. After that, the swollen feathers quickly contracted, changing into long, white hair.

No matter how many times Ashes saw this, she was always amazed. Maggie could change into a variety of birds. Besides the fact that she was a big fat ball in her transformed state, Ashes thought that the ability was nonetheless wonderful. There were times when Ashes would envy Maggie’s ability and wished that she had it rather than being an extraordinary with the power of not fearing God’s Stone of Retaliation. She would rather be able to travel quickly between two places. That way, each time she wanted to see Tilly, she could just leave and do so.

“Even though you have the tracking sigil, you were not easy to find.” Maggie shook the sticky fluff off of her body. “You were so far away that my magic stone could not receive the sigil’s fluctuations. Fortunately, Shadow knew your approximate location, and as I passed over Fallen Dragon Ridge, I got a bit of a response from the stone.”

Other than Maggie’s iconic white hair, her most particular attribute was her height. Despite it being clear that she was an adult, she barely came up to Ashes’ waist and had the appearance of a young girl. When her white hair flowed freely, it nearly covered her whole body.

“Has Tilly safely arrived at the Fjords?” Ashes sat down and patted the shingles beside her. Maggie scooted over in a manner similar to that of a bird.

“She had the safe travel on the Empress, but the second ship was hit by a strong north wind and crashed into the reef. Luckily, no witches were lost. The third and fourth ships are still at sea. I flew over them when I came looking for you.”

“Then that’s good.” Ashes was relieved. Even though the face of His Highness was abominable, what he said had not been wrong, and the passage from Kingdom of Graycastle to the Fjords was indeed dangerous. The climate of the sea was much swifter and more violent than that on land, and the good weather of a beautiful blue sky could turn into a storm in the blink of an eye. In those overwhelming waves, even her extraordinary magic power seemed insignificant.

Maggie stated, “Your rhetoric is all the same. Shadow said that you didn’t go back with her because you wanted to go to Border Town to win over more witches. Rather than questioning the situation, the first thing that Lady Tilly said was ‘That’s fine’.” She paused and looked around. “The companions, where are they?”

“They didn’t want to leave,” Ashes said, sighing. She proceeded to summarize what had happened. “They trusted their lord more than they did me. Furthermore, he’s Tilly’s older brother.”

“Lady Tilly is willing to accept us, so is her brother… Well, then it seems that there’s nothing wrong, coo. That’s why you should set out for the Fjord early. Without your help, Lady Tilly will have no way to enact the cleansing plan,” Maggie said.

Ashes shook her head. “I’ll leave only after the duel.”

“But you just said, even if you win, the lord won’t ask the witches to leave with you, right?” Maggie muttered, “Even with that you want to complete the duel?”

“If there’s even a chance, I’d like to try,” Ashes said, calmly. “It’s not a big deal to delay the cleansing plan for a few days, but if I can convince even one witch to come back with me, Tilly’s power will grow greatly.”

“Alright, then I’ll wait here to return together with you. However, there’s one more thing. When crossing Fallen Dragon Bridge, I saw a group of about 10 people carrying the church’s banner,” said Maggie.

“That’s not too many… with that flag, it’s probably a diplomatic envoy.” Ashes snorted coldly. “I don’t believe there’s any place around here that the church would send envoys to other than Border Town. Their nose is as sharp as a dog’s. But fine, wait until I beat the knight to the ground. After that, I’ll tell Roland Wimbledon the news about them. By then, he’ll know just how wrong he is.”

Chapter 164: Acid Preparation

yle Sichi had few nights of sleep for several days. He discovered that coming to Border Town was the best choice he had made in his life.

He spent two days and one night reading through the book of Elementary Chemistry. He could be fully resurrected by only four or six hours of sleep. At the moment, he had gone back to the first page and started pouring over this ancient book.

The substance is composed of tiny particles. The change of substance is the process of decomposition and restructuring of the tiny particles. The total amount of the substance remains unchanged in the reaction process.

“Oh my god! What a great writer! One should describe the world that was invisible to the people so clearly.” He had suspected more than once that what the book recorded was total bullshit. However, the final result actually stood up to the alchemy test based on the recorded formula. Besides, some examples in daily life also proved that what the book said could still hold water.

An example would be the “oxygen” that was described in the first chapter.

It was the main component of the air. People breathed oxygen, not air. Combustion must be in need of oxygen, given that the essence of combustion was a kind of oxidation reaction. The more oxygen was taken in, the more vigorous it burned.

The wording reminded him of the glass kiln in Redwater City— the air blower that was continuously swung by two people could make the temperature in the furnace rise up to the melting point of gravel. As a kind of substance, the pure oxygen could be extracted through alchemy… no, by chemical reaction. “Could the air-blowing equipment be saved if the furnace got oxygen?”

And, what made him surprised was, according to the book, that the water should be composed of two hydrogen particles and one oxygen particle, which was also ascribed to why all creatures needed to drink water. However, the hydrogen seemed to be a kind of gas. He wondered how it was done by mixing up two sorts of gases into a kind of liquid.

Kyle found he had many questions to think over. But what he could make sure of was that he had surpassed all the alchemists, as they were still on the way to explore the formula. He, however, had set foot on an easy path.

He needed to get down to his business. Kyle closed his book reluctantly. It was time to work as the day broke.

He blew out the candle, walked into the bedroom to see his sleeping wife and daughter, and then left home without making noise.

The residence His Highness enfeoffed him was located in the west of the castle, which was far larger than his house in Redwater City, and had walls constructed of bricks. It was a lot more comfortable compared to the wooden-made houses that easily got mildew. Life facilities were all available in all varieties. He was very satisfied with such arrangements even though he did not speak about it. Apprentices lived in another community two streets away from his residence. Their houses were smaller than that of Kyle’s and they did not live by themselves, but four people shared one bedroom, seemingly like the layout of hotels.

Apprentices were busy with their work when he got to the chemical laboratory along the bank of Redwater River. They were carefully selected by Kyle and had almost learned to rinse materials in the alchemical workshop in their childhood. They were in between their 20s and 30s now. He satisfactorily nodded when he saw the clean laboratory and glittering glass containers.

“Good morning, Respected Chief Mentor.” When the apprentices saw Kyle enter, they immediately bowed.

“Let’s start,” he said, taking a pair of gloves to wear, which were light, thin, and elastic. It was likely that the gloves were sewed up with animal tharm. There were no such regulations in alchemical workshop long before, but His Highness Roland had repeatedly emphasized the danger of chemical experiments. He had stipulated that the experimenters had to wear gloves and open the window during experiments that touched upon corrosive material reaction.

Their work now was totally different from that in the alchemical workshop. All they were doing was to prepare acid fluid for His Highness. They had operated the acid preparation several times with two varieties of stones. Therefore, Kyle could just look around and give instruction to apprentices instead of doing experiments in person.

The details of sulfuric acid and nitric acid were recorded in the book Elementary Chemistry. Kyle was accustomed to naming the products by the raw material. For example, the former was called green alum while the latter was named saltpeter. The preparation methods of these two kinds of acids were the same, even though they were different in names. The acid vapor was obtained by destructive distillation of green alum and saltpeter, and then collected acid fluid by congealing the acid vapor. Green alum was usually associated with sulfur mines, while saltpeter was the common raw material which could be produced in the exclusive saltpeter preparation pool in the big city.

His Highness, however, stressed that the two varieties of acids must be of high concentration, and he had specially explained the method of purification.

For instance, after collecting the sulfuric acid, the moisture could be evaporated by heating, and 80% or 90% of concentrated sulfuric acid could be finally prepared. However, the preparation of nitric acid was much more troublesome. It was said by His Highness Roland that the sulfuric acid fluid itself was not stable, and easy to volatilize. It would even decompose if exposed to the light when it reached a certain concentration. Therefore, the diluted nitric acid from destructive distillation had to mix up with concentrated sulfuric acid to heat, which could absorb the moisture. The nitric acid that evaporated was stored in a brown glass bottle. A thermometer was intentionally prepared by His Highness for the preparation of nitric acid.

Kyle felt it was like a marvelous creation at first glance—mercury was loaded up within a hollow glass tube, and there was no need to worry about the leaking of mercury because both ends of the glass tube were sealed. Several rings of painting lines served as the scale, and where the mercury stopped to rise would represent the current temperature when the mercury was heated.

Currently, three bottles of concentrated sulfuric acid and one bottle of nitric acid had been prepared. He found that sulfuric acid was not prone to flowing like water under such a concentration. It was much more like viscous oil. Nitric acid was no longer colorless and transparent but changed into a faint yellow. As long as the bottle cap was opened, a burst of white smoke would emit.

“Respected Mentor, should we prepare these two varieties of acid fluid every day?” an apprentice named Amon asked.

“Until His Highness assigns a new task.” Kyle paused and asked, “So, are you worried that you have no time to explore the alchemy formula?”

Amon nodded.

“I forgot to tell you that the title of alchemist would not be in use later, so you don’t need to rely on exploring formula to become an alchemist,” Kyle smiled and said, with his hands touching his stubble.

“No… You mean, not in use?” Amon was shocked. Other apprentices also slowed down the pace of work and listened to what the mentor would say next.

“Yes, the alchemy formula no longer needs to be researched and explored, as you’ll rely on memorizing and deduction,” said Kyle, as he clapped his hands to gather the apprentices around him. “His Highness Roland gave me a book named Elementary Chemistry. This is also why I brought you here. Most of the alchemy formulas can be deduced from the content of that book if it’s studied thoroughly.”

“Be deduced?” said the shocked apprentices.

“Yes, it’s true. I’ll teach you after I learn it carefully and digest it. His Highness also mentioned about the evolution method. You can only be conferred with the title of chemist after passing the test he arranged personally. I believe this title of honor will outmatch that of the alchemist. Even in the Alchemist Workshop in the king’s city, it’s impossible for them to obtain more knowledge than you,” he said.

Chapter 165: The Chase

ightning traveled back and forth between Border Town and the southern hills, holding a parchment in her hands that was slowly nearing completion.

This was her newly received task. Together with Soraya, she had to draw a map of the Western Region.

Flying together with Soraya, her altitude was significantly reduced, making it difficult to fly over the forest. So she would first paint a rough outline of the topography, and later Soraya would draw a more exact picture. By using her magic pen, the map looked like an aerial view, every detail seemed to come to life.

Lightning planned to go back to Border Town after the parchment was filled in. Several months of practicing had made her flying much faster. His Highness Roland calculated that Lightening could fly 120 kilometers per hour at full speed. At this speed, any incoming strong wind made it nearly impossible for her to open her eyes.

She had thought that it was all she could do. However, the day before yesterday, His Highness had given her a gift, a headband made of leather, with two copper rings in the middle and transparent glass embedded into the copper rings. As long as she wore the headband, she was immune to the incoming wind.

His Highness called it wind-proof glass, and it was made when firing some glassware. He had said she looked like a little Ezreal when she wore it. Lightning did not know who Ezreal was, but she understood that it took a lot of time to join the copper rings and glass lenses. The complete piece of leather had a double-layered structure so that it could wrap itself tightly around the inset copper rings. There was no need to worry about scratching her skin. The buckle was also designed to adjust the tightness. Anyhow, it was not something that had been just casually made.

She liked the gift instantly and wore it on her head. Even when she was sleeping she also wore it. She could fly as fast as she wanted now, regardless of the howling wind around her. As long as she wore the wind-proof glass.

Lightning reached the small town soon, and when she would fly back to the castle to give Soraya the map, a pale figure suddenly swept past the corner of her eye. She turned, only to find a pigeon flying toward Longsong Stronghold. Pigeons were not rare, but this one was quite different. It was too fat and just the wings alone would be enough to satisfy her stomach for an entire day.

Lightning swallowed. She thought back to a time when she had still lived on the island and caught some flying fish and birds by hand, later roasting them over the fire. Now, living under the roof of His Highness, although the food was substantial, having to eat bread with butter and mushroom soup for months on end, the food had started to become somewhat tasteless to her. If she could catch a pigeon to roast… She touched the pack with salt and pepper fastened to her waist and made her decision.

Lightning adjusted her direction and flew directly toward the pigeon. The pigeon quickly noticed Lightning. It immediately folded its wings, and dove sharply downwards, seemingly wanting to hide in the woods, to rid itself of this menacing hunter.

Seeing this, Lighting was shocked, for she would never have thought a pigeon could be this clever. A few seconds later, a broad grin spread across her face. With a sudden turn, she followed the pigeon as it dove downwards. Since the Months of Demons had ended, the little girl had become confident that nothing could escape her.

The pigeon would skim the treetops for a moment, and then fly extremely low for a while, close to the ground. However, the distance between the two got closer and closer. No matter how fast it beat its wings, it could not throw off Lightning’s pursuit.

The dense forest receded, and the sun shone occasionally through the branches, alternating patches of light and shade. Until finally they flew through an open area, with an expanse of brightness. Grabbing hold of this opportunity, Lightning brought her speed up to maximum, grabbing the pigeon from behind and tumbling to the ground.

No matter how hard she struggled, the pigeon could not escape. Lightning drew the knife from her waist and prepared to kill the prey. But at this moment, the pigeon said suddenly, “Stop… coo! Help… coo!”

The little girl’s shock was so heavy that she almost tossed her knife away. But she quickly understood and asked, “Are you a witch?”

The Pigeon nodded repeatedly as an answer.

“And here I thought I could finally have a change in flavor.” Lightning sighed in regret, putting her knife away. “I’m Lightning, what’s your name?”

The pigeon swelled and magically changed into human form. “Maggie. How dare you try to eat this bird!” She complained.

“I’ve actually eaten many before.” Lightning shrugged and reached out her hand to pull Maggie up. Suddenly, a bead rolled out from under her arm and bounced on the ground, finally falling into a pit. Lightning went to pick the bead up, wanting to return it to Maggie. She noticed that the red transparent bead was engraved with a string of strange runes and looked particularly familiar.

She frowned and thought for a moment, and then she grasped a string around her neck, and slowly pulled a dark red pendant from her chest. Placing them side by side, she discovered that the pattern on them was exactly the same.

“What?” Shocked, Maggie who was looking over her shoulder, asked, “You have a tracking sigil, too?”

“A tracking sigil? What’s that?”

“You don’t know what it is? It can respond to a magic stone, allowing the holder of the stone to locate your position,” she paused and said, “No! I shouldn’t have told you. Just now, you wanted to eat me!”

“Do you have such a magic stone?”

“Yes. No!” Maggie shook her head.

“So, you can track my position?” Lightning asked curiously.

“No, I can’t. The magic stone can only track the corresponding sigil,” she answered this time, “and only we witches can use it. If you don’t know this already, how did you even get it?”

“My father gave it to me.” Lightning returned the bead to Maggie and asked, “What about you?”

“It’s a secret.” Maggie made a face but then she stared curiously at the other girl. “You belong to the Witch Cooperation Association, don’t you? Ashes said that you don’t want to leave Border Town.”

“You’re on her side?” Lightning curled up her lips in disdain. “And here I thought you were a new witch, attracted by the rumor. We live a good life here. Why would we leave?”

“”Because it’s dangerous. The church could come with their army at any time.”

“The explorer isn’t frightened by potential dangers.” She blushed when she mentioned this. The Stone Tower didn’t count. It was only a matter of time before she would visit the ruin again, and by then she would be able to enter the basement. “Furthermore, His Highness Roland Wimbledon has several incredible inventions. Once you’ve seen them, you’ll understand. One can turn a fist-sized ball into a weapon, and when someone is hit by it, they’re torn to pieces.”

“Really? Could you take me to see them?” Maggie exclaimed.

“No. You’re not allowed unless you join the Witches Union and become one of us.”

“But I have to go back with Ashes,” Maggie said with hesitation

“Then you can come back later,” Lightning continued her coaxing, “Here there’re many interesting things. We have machines which move on their own using heated water, and there are also weapons that can attack enemies a kilometer away. Uh, are you asking how far a kilometer is? It’s quite far, if you look at people from one kilometer away, and they’ll seem to be about the size of a tree branch.” She made many gestures with her hands and feet. “There’re even more interesting places and things to do in Misty Forest. Things like poking honeycombs, gathering so many mushrooms that you couldn’t even count them all, and hunting birds and wild boars which are even more interesting. They’re delicious if you peel off their fur and roast them over a bonfire with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper.”

“Really?” Maggie could not help licking her lips.

“Of course. Why should I lie to you?” Lightning hooked her arm around Maggie’s shoulder. “How about hunting a bird and roasting it, right now!”

Chapter 166: The Night before the Final Battle

On the promised fifth day, Roland finally finished preparing all the ingredients needed to produce guncotton.

He made a serious error during the electrolysis of the salt water. He used the copper strips Anna cut out as the electrodes, causing the electrodes to dissolve. He ended up wasting an entire pot of the salt water. Saturated brine was typically used to prevent the dissolution of chlorine in water during the electrolysis process, but salt in this era was not an inexpensive, everyday item. He felt like he was uselessly throwing away gold royals when discarding the contaminated salt water. He was finally able to solve the issue after using carbon rods as the electrodes.

He boiled the caustic soda with water to remove the grease. When he ended up with grease-free cotton gauzes, he brought the rest of the caustic soda to the chemistry lab.

The esterification of guncotton was the most important step of the process. Roland was not entirely sure of the theory, only that he needed to soak the gauze in acid and remove it after nitrification. He did not know anything about the acid ratio or reaction time. Roland told Kyle to form multiple teams to conduct the experiment. Hourglasses were used to control their timing. They repeatedly washed the gauze after soaking in acid, before soaking them again in sodium hydroxide solution. The wet gauzes were then taken to the castle for Wendy to dry.

They used concentrated nitric acid during the esterification, so most of the trial products were inflamed very quickly. Among them, the gauze soaked in the 1:2 ratio of nitric acid and sulfuric acid produced the best result. After obtaining a general prescription, the lab started the mass production of guncotton. After soaking and washing, the soldiers from the First Army took them away. Not even the chief alchemist knew the use of the guncotton they created.

The maids would cut the dried gauze into squares the size of a fingernail, where the gauzes were delivered to North Slope Mountain in boxes. They would end up in the backyard of the firing room. Without machines, these procedures had to be done by manpower. Seated scattered on the ground, the guards used wooden sticks to push the guncotton towards the bottom of the shell and seal the ignition hole. Black gunpowder was then poured into the shell with a funnel and compacted. They tried to make sure the amount of gunpowder in each shell was the same.

The last step was to force the bullets in. Anna’s bullets were well-fitted with the shell. They only needed to push the bullets in with their hands and use a hammer to tap it lightly.

Despite the somewhat inefficient procedures, they could still produce hundreds of bullets within a day. On the sixth day, Carter tried the new weapon. As a competent chief knight, Carter’s hit rate saw a dramatic improvement after a few days of continuous training. He performed much better than when he was undergoing Roland’s rifle practice for his military training.

After the creation of bullets, Carter no longer had to hold the flintlock in an unnatural position with his wrist crooked downwards. As long as the guncotton remained intact, the cartridge would remain clean. Carter was a hundred times more sensitive to sparks than the black gunpowder, allowing him to fire accurately.

On the last day, Roland took advantage of the remaining time they had and made Carter Lannis practice quick gun-drawing and double-gun shot. The 12mm caliber pistol had a considerable recoil even when using black gunpowder. When the pistol was used with one hand, it was difficult to maintain the accuracy of the second shot. However, in Roland’s plan, this was his last resort if Ashes attacked him in a close combat.

Carter would enter the battlefield with double pistols. In a long battle, 10 bullets would be enough to determine the outcome. If it became a close combat, he could use the other gun to fight back. Considering that the enemy was using defensive weapons, Roland chose rigid iron-made bullets to increase the penetrating power and lessen the cavity lethality at the same time. Due to the technology limitations of this era, it was likely that the giant sword Ashes owned was made out of cast iron. Its lavish appearance would not enhance its quality. The poor forgery of the huge iron weapon would instead cause imbalanced internal stress and would not make a good shield. In Roland’s opinion, the giant sword would turn out to be a useless weapon. If his luck was not particularly bad, the possibility of her winning was pretty low.

If Ashes wanted to defeat Carter, she had to get close to the knight. This was the disadvantage of cold weapons compared to hot weapons. If the ability of Ashes was not as insane as being able to visualize the ballistic trajectory and dodge the bullets, she would have no chance to defeat Carter.

It was close to the evening when Ashes finally saw Maggie fly back to their room.

“Why are you back so late these days?” she asked, closing the window.

“Lightning took me to catch the birds.” Maggie transformed back into her human shape and took out a roasted bird thigh. The room was full of the delicious smell. “I bought one for you too,” said Maggie.

“I’ve already eaten.” Ashes shook her head. “Is Lightning a witch of the Witch Cooperation Association?”

“Yes.” Maggie nodded enthusiastically. “She has the same flying ability, but she’s much more agile when using the ability.” After a short pause, she asked, “Sister Ashes, must you have to fight this battle? I think… they wouldn’t follow you. Their lives here are good.”

Ashes was stunned, but she did not answer.

“Even I want to stay here.” Maggie sat on the bed. “The bed is soft and the food is good. At lunch, I saw Prince Roland bringing his plate to the backyard and eating with the witches. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The prince would occasionally talk, too. He’s totally different from those detestable nobles. Lightning took me to play Gwent in the afternoon. It’s a game where two parties draw 10 cards each to compete. The one with the bigger number would win. It’s really fun. They gave me two sets of the cards. Sister Ashes, do you want to play? I can teach you.”

“No…” Ashes shook her head and took a deep breath. She noticed the change in Maggie. However, she did not realize she was mistaken until this moment.

Most witches lived their lives in fear and insecurity. A shelter for them to live in peace was all they coveted. Take Maggie for example. She had to hide in a cottage room in the slums of King’s City before Tilly accepted her. Like a real bird, she squeezed herself into the narrow beams of the roof to pass each night. Even when Tilly decided to cross the ocean to the east, Maggie ran around to inform the witches hidden in the cities. She did not rest for half a year. It was probably the very first time she lived such a peaceful life.

Was it not the same for her? It was only after meeting Tilly that she began to experience a life she had never once imagine in the past. Ashes was used to the peaceful life in the palace, but she neglected the meaning of the small town to the witches. The sense of belonging was the most priceless thing for them. They wanted to stay here and protect the land just like how Ashes wanted to protect Tilly.

If Roland Wimbledon could indeed withstand the fanatical God’s Punishment Army as he had said, then this place would be a better choice than the Fjord without question. It was tempting to establish the kingdom of witches in an unfamiliar place, but no one could predict how many more hardships would come.

But if he could not withstand the army, should the witches leave?

Her emotions suddenly calmed.

If she thought about it from another perspective, Ashes would still stand by Tilly and protect her even if Tilly could not keep a foothold in Fjords. Tilly was the person who granted a home to her. Ashes had no reason to leave her.

“This place is under the constant threat of the Church. If they could not withstand the God’s Punishment Army, Border Town would be destroyed sooner or later.”

There was no longer any need to insist on this battle anymore… But she still decided to do it anyway, whether for admonition or perhaps even proof.

“What if they could do it?” Maggie mumbled.

“I hope so. So I’ll help them prove this,” Ashes said in a low voice.

She closed her eyes and made the mental preparation to give it her all.

Chapter 167: Victory or Defeat

he battle took place at the foot of the city wall of the Western Region.

Besides Roland, those who watched the duel was Iron Axe, Tigui, Brian, and members of the Witch Cooperation Association.

And a pigeon perched on the lookout tower.

Everyone had to climb up the city wall to watch to avoid the stray bullets. The two participants, Chief Knight Carter Lannis and Extraordinary Ashes, will have a one-to-one duel in an area near the city wall.

Instead of his usual knight costume, Carter wore a lightweight close-fitting leather suit with a custom holster belt around his waist. He had two revolvers on both sides of his waist, and a short dagger behind him for emergency purposes. But Roland knew that if Carter had to resort a dagger in fight against an Extraordinary, he might as well surrender.

Ashes was in her usual outfit, a long dark robe covering her entire body. She combed her long black hair into a ponytail, unconcerned about the weakness she had created for herself. The only difference was the wrapped strips of cloth on her giant sword was uncovered. The dark brown body of the sword was dull and had little shine. As per Roland’s expectations, its surface was bumpy. It was not a well-made weapon. Due to the lack of maintenance, rust was beginning to form in the cracks on the sword.

The two of them walked into the duel field. Carter tried to adjust his position until he was 15 meters away from Ashes. He held a 80% chance to get an accurate shot from this distance. He took out two revolvers and checked the bullets and the muzzle.

Roland made Echo imitate and magnify his voice. “The rules are very simple. Don’t make critical kills and you’re allowed to surrender! As long as you don’t die, Nana can heal you immediately. Any problems?” When he did not hear any disagreements about the rules after a moment of silence, he said, “When the clock rings, begin!”

Ashes observed her opponent. As an Extraordinary, she fought by listening to her instincts. She had learned combat skills from the master of the swordsmanship in the palace after she came under Tilly’s care. She, however, felt those skills were superficial to her. Her opponent was Prince Roland’s chief knight, but he did not carry any swords or spears, or even wear an armor. The weapons in his hands looked bizarre, too. Based on their shape, they could not be close combat weapon such as a dagger. The only possibility was a long-range strike weapon, something like a hand crossbow.

Crossbow bolts would not threaten Extraordinaries. Ashes learned that through numerous combats. If it was a crossbow bolt, she could even catch the flying bolt in her hand. However, noticing the prince’s confidence, she believed that the weapon would not be as simple as a crossbow bolt.

Her instinct told her to approach the knight quickly, instead of waiting in the sidelines for the knight to strike. Before the duel started, Ashes sank the tip of her giant sword into the ground. Her posture seemed innocuous, but it was the best strategy to handle a crossbowman.

A string of clock chimes drifted from the city wall.

Ashes made her move at nearly the same time. She gripped the hilt of her sword with both hands and swung it fiercely at Carter. The soil, grass, and rocks were thrown at him, forming a smokescreen.

Chief Knight Carter reacted swiftly. A spark burst from his weapon and an astonishing roar followed. But Ashes saw nothing. Either Carter did not have any bolts or the bolts were so fast that she could not even see them. Compared to the stupid-sounding first speculation, she was inclined to believe the latter.

Under the protection of the smokescreen, Ashes struck from the side. Their distance was almost narrowed by half and the smokescreen had yet to fall. People would normally try to dodge the dirt. If she could interrupt Carter’s shooting, she would most likely win.

But Carter did not move nor did he care about the dust on his face. He squinted, aimed at the Extraordinary, and pulled the trigger. The spark flashed along with the roar. Ashes instinctively dodged, but still did not see any bolts. She did not see him pulling the string either.

This new weapon could shoot in succession. However, under the situation where Carter had already missed two shots, the outcome was clear.

The last 10 steps of distance passed in a blink of time. She raised her giant sword in front of her and kicked the ground hard, striking at the knight. Such collision would not cause instant death, but it would be enough to knock him unconscious. Even if the knight could still stand through his strong resilience, the broken bones in his chest would make him lose any ability to fight. In the last minute, Carter’s third strike exploded in front of Ashes. She felt her giant sword shake and make a crisp sound. The right side of her stomach felt a sudden numbness as if it was harshly scratched by something.

Almost at the same time, she smashed into Carter and knocked him into the air, where his body created an arc in the air before falling to the ground.

Only now did she have the time to check the wound on her waist. Just as she lowered her head, a strong sense of dizziness rushed to her head. Ashes stumbled and almost fell. The strength from her magic power left her like flowing water. Her limbs became unbelievably heavy.

Ashes used her sword to support her weight. The numbness on her wound became a burning sensation of pain. She felt like she lost a chunk of flesh on her waist. She could even see her bright red liver. She could only clench her teeth to not let herself collapse.

…

In Roland’s eyes, the whole duel ended in five seconds. He saw the Extraordinary swing dirt towards Carter and strike him from the side at the same time. She changed direction once and smashed into the knight. Carter then fired three bullets before he was knocked upwards. That was out of Roland’s expectations.

When facing an abnormally fast Ashes, it would be difficult for Roland to even trace her movements with his eyes. However, Carter was able to aim and shoot at her, proving that he deserved the title of Chief Knight. It was normal that he missed the first two shots. In fact, had Ashes kept switching directions at her speed, he could not have shot her at all. The key was the third shot. Ashes made a frontal strike with her sword blocking her chest in a short distance of six meters.

If it was a bolt, even a heavy one, it would at most hit the sword and not hurt the Extraordinary. However, the ammo with a 12mm diameter with an iron bullet head made an terrifying impact at such distance. At that time, Roland could only see black dust flying and the side of Ashes covered in blood. When she stood still, he noticed half of her waist was damaged, as if bitten by a demonic beast. Her intestines flew out and slid down her side. There was a bowl-sized hole in the sword. The bullet probably penetrated the sword, swirled into her stomach, and inflicted a huge wound.

Even heavily injured, Ashes did not faint and stood persistently. The physical fitness of an Extraordinary was astonishing. If they had used lead bullets or smaller bullets, Ashes would most likely survive them. Maggie ran toward Ashes and tried to hold her. However, she was so short she could only hold onto her leg, looking anxious.

Nana rushed to heal Carter, while Roland took quick steps toward Ashes.

This moment seemed to be what she was waiting for.

“I won…” Ashes collapsed into Roland as soon as she said these words, without giving him any chance to react.