Roland had already heard a detailed report from Tasssa before receiving the new witch.
He didn't expect that the long-missing Tilly Wimbledon had become the leader of another witch organization, and even snatched away most of the witches in the Kingdom of Graycastle before him. What's even more intolerable is that she now wants to extend her claws to his territory.
According to Nightingale, the witch in front of him is a Transcendent, and her ability is likely to be combat-oriented.
Any Transcendent is worth treating with caution. Therefore, when Roland received Ashes in his office, Anna stood beside the invisible Nightingale. In front of the desk, several extremely thin strands of Blackfire formed a wall imperceptible to the naked eye. As long as she dared to rush up, she would be divided into several pieces by these thin lines.
Enhanced witches do not have an advantage in the witch civil war when they do not wear God's Stone of Retribution, but once they wear the stone, they have unrestricted destructive power. Fortunately, the God's Stone is hated by the vast majority of witches. Ashes probably considered this, and did not carry the church's iconic items when she came to Border Town to win over the witches.
"Your witches? Don't be so arrogant. They are all living people, not your private property!" Ashes said coldly.
Roland was immediately choked. It was the first time after his transmigration that he felt the embarrassment of losing a verbal battle. He was used to saying "my people" and "my subjects," but now he was criticized by unexpected democratic remarks, which made him extremely embarrassed. Although according to the customs of this era, it is not a problem for a lord to call the people or things on his territory that way, emphasizing this point in front of Nightingale and Anna is purely low EQ and dragged into the pit by the other party.
So he coughed twice and followed the good advice: "I never thought that way. They stay in the town out of their own will, and I believe this is also their best home. As for the Fjordlands you mentioned, not to mention the transoceanic journey itself is very dangerous, the Fjord climate is unpredictable and often suffers from storms and tsunamis, it is not a suitable place to live at all."
"But at least there, the power of the church is minimal. Witches can rely on their own strength to transform their homes and fight against natural disasters, but they have no way to fight against the church with God's Stone of Retribution, let alone the Army of Divine Retribution." Ashes said mercilessly, "Do you know what a stupid thing you have done? The news spread will only lure the church to come to your door. To be blunt, you have no way to fight against the Army of Divine Retribution. Letting the witches leave your territory is the right way to avoid tragedy."
Roland had already heard Wendy tell him about the information of the Army of Divine Retribution. He knew that convincing the other party with strength was more effective than any words. Of course, he could ignore Ashes, but in this way, it would be equivalent to completely giving up trying to win over the witches under Tilly Wimbledon. Although the hope was slim, he still wanted to try.
"How many members of the Army of Divine Retribution can you fight against at the same time?" he asked.
Ashes looked a little puzzled, but in the end, she held up three fingers, "I can handle three."
"Then let's have a competition," Roland straightened up and said seriously, "Let the results of the competition tell you whether I have the possibility of winning against the Army of Divine Retribution."
"You...what?" Ashes was stunned for a moment, and a different expression finally appeared on her cold face.
"A fair competition, one-on-one." He said word by word, "If I can defeat you head-on, it will prove that I have the ability to resist the church, right?"
Ashes showed a "you're crazy" expression, "You and me? Or...do you want the witches to play?"
"Of course not me, let alone the witches. The Army of Divine Retribution must all have God's Stone of Retribution," Roland smiled, "Your opponent is an ordinary knight."
Although it was a pity that he couldn't play in person, the other party was, after all, a Transcendent witch with explosive combat power. It could be seen from Wendy's description alone—killing everyone in the monastery in a frenzy, and being able to escape under the pursuit of multiple members of the Army of Divine Retribution. Even with bare hands or a wooden sword, she can exert extraordinary lethality. And the actual combat effect of the revolver still needs to be verified. For safety reasons, he decided to give this glorious task to Carter. If he had an ak47 in his hand, he would definitely go himself.
"Ordinary knight..." Ashes' expression returned to her initial indifference, "If I win, will you let the witches go with me?"
"Of course not. Just like if you lose, I can't possibly let Tilly bring all the witches she has gathered to Border Town, right?"
"Then what's the point of this duel?"
"It's not a duel, it's a competition," Roland corrected, "The point is to let you know that I am not without resistance in the face of the church. And if you lose, you will naturally remember that if you can't stay in the Fjordlands, there is still a Borderland in the West that can provide a place for witches to live. Of course, if you win, at least you will have more persuasive power when persuading Wendy and the others, right?"
"I can't possibly lose," Ashes said, "Call your knight here now."
"Not now," Roland waved his hand, "I can only prepare for the competition in a week. During this week, you can live in the castle and experience the town life with the witches. Maybe you will change your previous views."
"..." She looked at the prince for a while before nodding, "Maybe they will change their minds and leave Border Town with me before seven days."
Roland shrugged.
Just as she turned to walk to the door, he suddenly stopped her, "Wait...have I seen you somewhere?"
Although he was sure that he had never seen this face, from the figure behind, there was a sense of inexplicable familiarity. Roland recalled slightly, this sense of familiarity seemed to come from...the royal palace.
"Didn't your guard tell you?" She didn't look back, "If Tilly hadn't stopped me, I'm afraid you would have only one hand left when you were in the palace."
After the office door closed, Nightingale revealed her figure and whistled, "You touched her butt too?"
"What?" Roland was stunned, "I don't remember anyone like that in the palace at all. And what do you mean by 'also' touched?"
Nightingale made a mouth shape, and he recognized that it was "Tyr"—damn it, although he did touch the head maid's butt, that was because he was afraid of being seen through and touched it according to convention! I haven't even settled the score with you for spying!
"Ahem," Anna interrupted the conversation between the two, "Are you really confident that the knight can defeat the Transcendent witch? If you fail, it may affect the other witches' confidence in you."
Fortunately, Anna's expression still looked calm, and Roland breathed a sigh of relief, "Although self-enhanced witches are not affected by the God's Stone of Retribution, she still uses her own physical functions to fight. Compared with rapid-firing firearms, the limitations of the body are always too great. I think the odds of winning are at least 70%."
But the premise is that he can complete the research and development of ammunition within a week, he thought.