The competition venue was at the foot of the western city wall of the town.
In addition to Roland, the spectators included Iron Axe, Tigu, Brian, and all the members of the Witch Union.
Plus a fat pigeon squatting on the watchtower.
To avoid accidental bullet injuries, everyone had to climb the city wall to watch. The two contestants – Chief Knight Carter Lannis and extraordinary witch Ashes – would engage in a one-on-one duel in the area closer to the city wall.
Carter's attire was not the usual knight's armor, but a close-fitting leather suit for easy movement. Around his waist was a specially customized holster belt, with a revolver stuck on each side. A short knife was also placed horizontally at the back of his waist for temporary emergency use. But Roland knew that if it came to using a short knife to fight an extraordinary person, it would be better to admit defeat directly.
Ashes was still dressed as usual, a black robe covering her body, black hair tied into a ponytail, naturally falling behind her back, seemingly not caring that this would create extra weaknesses for herself. The only difference was the greatsword, the wrapped cloth had been removed, and the dark brown blade had almost no luster. As Roland expected, the surface of this sword was uneven, not like a carefully crafted weapon, and due to lack of maintenance, rust had appeared in the notched areas.
The two entered the field, and Carter kept adjusting his position until he was more than fifteen meters away from the other. He was more than 70% sure of hitting a fixed target at this distance. Taking out two sniper guns, he checked the bullets and flint ignition ports one last time.
Roland had Echo imitate and amplify his voice, "The rules of the competition are very simple: stop when you make a point, no hitting the head, you can admit defeat! As long as you don't die on the spot, Nana's healing ability can quickly restore you to your original state. Any questions?" He waited a moment, and seeing that the two had no objections, he continued, "The competition begins when you hear the bell!"
Ashes silently looked at her opponent. As an extraordinary person, she mostly fought by instinct. After following Tilly, she also learned combat skills from the sword masters in the palace, but she always felt that these skills were of little help to her. The other party was the chief knight by the prince's side, but he did not carry the common sword, shield, or spear, and did not even wear armor. The weapon in his hand was extremely strange, but according to its shape, it was obviously not a close-quarters weapon like a dagger. Then there was only one possibility left: it should be similar to a crossbow, a long-range weapon.
Crossbows were not a threat to extraordinary people, a point that Ashes had concluded from many battles. If it was a light crossbow, she could even catch the incoming crossbow bolts with her bare hands. However, judging from the prince's confident appearance, the weapon in the other party's hand would never be as simple as a crossbow.
Her instinct told her that she must get close to the knight as soon as possible, instead of waiting for the other party to attack first from the periphery. Therefore, before the competition began, Ashes inserted the front end of the longsword into the ground. This posture seemed harmless, but it was the most effective way to deal with crossbowmen.
At this moment, a crisp bell sound came from the city wall.
Ashes moved almost at the same time. She held the hilt of the sword with both hands and slammed it forward. Soil, roots, and gravel rose into the air with the wide blade, flying towards the knight, forming a cloud of mud and sand.
The chief knight's reaction was also very swift. The weapon in his hand burst into a flame and made a huge roar, but Ashes saw nothing – either the other party did not load arrows, or the arrows were so fast that she could not detect them. Compared to the first almost stupid mistake, she preferred the latter.
Under the cover of the mud and sand cloud, Ashes launched a sprint from the side. The distance between the two was almost halved in the blink of an eye, and at this time, the mud and sand cloud had not completely landed. Most people would instinctively avoid the overwhelming mud and dregs. As long as she could interrupt the other party from continuing to shoot, she would have won more than half.
But Carter did not move his position, completely ignoring the dirt hitting his face, squinting his eyes and aiming the weapon at the approaching extraordinary person, and pulling the trigger again – the roar was accompanied by a flash of fire. Ashes reflexively took a step to the outside, still not seeing the projectile, and at the same time, the knight did not have any preparation actions such as pulling the string or loading an arrow.
This new type of weapon can probably fire continuously, but with two consecutive
missed shots, the outcome has been decided!
The last ten steps were also a matter of blink of an eye. She held the longsword vertically in front of her, stomped her feet hard on the ground, and rammed towards the knight like a bull – such an impact would not kill instantly, but it would be enough to make him faint. Even if he endured it with a strong will, the shattered bones in his chest would completely deprive him of combat ability. In this last breath, the other party's third attack exploded in front of Ashes. She only felt a violent shock on her sword, making a crisp hum, and then a numbness in her right abdomen, as if something had grabbed her hard.
Almost at the same time, she crashed into Carter's chest, knocking him directly into the air, drawing an arc in the air, and rolling to the ground.
It was not until this time that she had the time to check the injury on her waist. But as soon as she looked down, a strong sense of dizziness surged into her brain. She staggered twice and almost fell to the ground – the power brought by extraordinary magic seemed to be flowing away like water, and her limbs became extremely heavy.
Ashes supported her body with the longsword. The numbness of the wound had turned into a burning pain. Her waist seemed to be missing a part, and she could even see her own bright red internal organs. Only by gritting her teeth could she keep herself from falling.
……
In Roland's eyes, the entire competition process took only four or five seconds. He saw the extraordinary witch provoke mud and debris towards Carter and launch a charge from the other side, changing direction once in the middle, and then crashing hard into the knight. And Carter fired a total of three bullets before being knocked away – this alone was beyond Roland's expectations.
Facing the exceptionally swift Ashes, he was afraid that he would have difficulty even staring at her figure, and he could still aim and fire, which fully proved that the title of chief knight was not a false reputation. The first two missed shots were normal. In fact, if Ashes changed direction several times at this speed, Carter would probably not be able to hit his opponent with a single shot. The key was the third shot, a straight-line impact with Ashes blocking the greatsword in front of her chest within the last five or six meters.
If it was a crossbow – even a heavy crossbow, it would at most be nailed into the longsword at this time, and would have no effect on the extraordinary person. But the 12mm caliber bullet and steel warhead exploded with unparalleled power at this distance. At that time, Roland only saw black debris flying, and a cloud of blood mist puffed up from Ashes' side. When she stood still, the prince realized that half of the other party's waist had been blown away, as if it had been bitten by an evil beast, and the intestines slipped out and hung on her side. There was a bowl-shaped gap in the lower half of the greatsword, probably after the bullet hit the iron sword and passed through it, the unstable warhead and the flying iron filings spun and poured into her side abdomen, blowing open a huge wound.
Even though she was seriously injured, she still did not faint, but insisted on standing on the field – the physical fitness of extraordinary witches was indeed terrifyingly high. If it was the previous pistol bullets or small-caliber warheads, she could probably withstand them with her body. Maisie rushed to Ashes' side as soon as possible, wanting to support the other party, but unfortunately, because of her short stature, she could only hug her legs with a worried expression.
Nana was already going to treat Carter, and Roland also strode to the standing Ashes.
She seemed to be waiting for this moment.
"I won..." After speaking, without waiting for Roland to react, Ashes fell straight on his shoulder. (。)