Heidi slipped and fell in the rain, the flowing rain pouring into her mouth, nose, and collar.
It was hard to describe her true feelings. Although she did not feel much pain in her body, she was powerless after the fall.
"Don"t worry about me. Go and kill her!" she shouted out not even bothering to examine her injuries.
But Nightfall disappointed her.
The combat witch from the Bloodfang a.s.sociation hesitated, then stopped and came back to her finally, asking, "My lady, are you alright?"
"Moron! We could only turn the tables if we seized them. If we couldn"t, what was the point of staying unharmed?" She wanted to vent her anger but found that she was too tired to open her mouth and say anything.
Behind her, she heard Skyflare"s scream, and the fights gradually died away.
It was very difficult for her to resist long when faced with the Extraordinary, Ashes.
The paralytic feeling in her body began to fade, but a nervous flush along her thighs which p.r.i.c.ked painfully was very noticeable once she was soaked with the rain.
Heidi managed to look up but only saw Andrea walking slowly toward her.
"Don"t you want to give up resistance?"
"Yes," Nightfall answered, she turned around and knelt down. "I give in. Please don"t kill Lady Heidi."
Andrea wiped the water on her head and said, "If I intended to kill her, she"d be dead by now. Her Highness Tilly hasn"t yet figured something out, so I must spare her life for now. As soon as all the evidence against her is certain, she"ll be justly punished."
"Evidence?" Nightfall was at a loss. "Annie betrayed the Bloodfang a.s.sociation"s witches, this is why my lady planned to harm her."
"Oh? Is that what she told you? As far as I"m concerned, Annie never joined the Bloodfang a.s.sociation." Andrea shrugged. "You"ll know what kind of person she is when the truth is revealed." Then she turned and shouted to Shadow, "Go and fetch Pandora to stop the bleeding from her wounds, or she"ll be doomed."
At that moment Heidi finally felt the pain, and her whole leg could not move. It felt like a ma.s.s of heaviness beneath her yet did not belong to her. A sharp pain in her leg replaced the burning feeling, making her feel a bit better.
It was over.
And she knew exactly what would happen next.
Tilly must had somehow learned the truth about her since she dared to do this. It was not difficult to find the truth with a bit of clue. Even if the Sleeping Island"s witches could not find the truth, those people in the Western Region could.
She was afraid this had something to do with Iffy and Softfeathers.
She had belittled Tilly.
Heidi thought for a moment. Then she gritted her teeth and released her magic power with her last ounce of strength just as Andrea turned her head.
She could destroy anything hollow within 10 steps from the inside, whether they were living things or vessels.
She called it Power of Pulverizing.
Although a defeat was inevitable, Heidi was not willing to let Tilly win so easily. At least she wanted to teach Tilly an unforgettable lesson.
"No, my lady!" Nightfall noticed and cried out.
It was too late! Heidi sneered secretively.
But her power did not take effect.
An invisible barrier dispersed her Power of Pulverizing.
"You"re wearing the G.o.d"s Stone of Retaliation!" Heidi mumbled with dilated eyes. "Wait. The thing that had hurt me wasn"t Andrea"s new ability?"
"You do seem quite energetic, you incorrigible bi*ch," Andrea said with disgust, raising the iron bar and smas.h.i.+ng it with all her might.
Heidi was instantly blind.
"This is the end." Seeing Heidi Morgan and Skyflare being carried away, Andrea asked Ashes, "So how are things on your end?"
"It"s okay, but I"m afraid that Skyflare may not survive until the day when we arrive in the Western Region."
"Lady Tilly said to keep them alive if possible. Why did you do it?" she said with a look of disdain.
Ashes licked the raindrop at the corner of her mouth and said, "I never thought she would be so desperate and risk her life to win. Besides, she does have technical fighting skills. Of course, I could have captured her alive, but I worried that something might go wrong at the essential moment. So I had to do it quickly."
"You..." Andrea was speechless.
The Extraordinary sighed. "If you had shown the Gla.s.sbead earlier, maybe they wouldn"t have risked their lives in the end. But you chose to hold the flintlock, how could they know what it was?"
"Stop arguing. Lady Tilly is still waiting for your report." Shadow reminded them helplessly. "Besides, you can"t stand in the rain and argue. What if you get typhoid?"
The two looked at each other for a moment, and then exchanged a despised look to end this argument, walking side by side to the palace.
After giving her report, Andrea noticed that Tilly did not look well. After solving this great trouble, Tilly did not look happy or relieved. On the contrary, she seemed a little glum.
Ashes took her hands in hers and asked, "What"s the matter. Are you sick?"
Tilly shook her head. "When I first saw Roland"s letter, I didn"t believe what was in it," she said with a sentimental tone, "We witches have finally found our own home. Why did they want to repeat the tragedy of the past years? Isn"t it better to live in this place and be satisfied?"
"You"ve done a great job." Ashes comforted her, saying, "Not all the combat witches will unconditionally accept Heidi"s way of doing things, especially when our living standards have improved. Some of them have already supported us, even members of the Bloodfang a.s.sociation are no exception."
"She"s right," said Andrea. Although she did not like Ashes, Andrea did not want to upset Tilly. "The fact that Nightfall didn"t obey Heidi and fight to the death is proof. Given time, all the people will gather together firmly, just like the Witch Union."
"I hope so." Tilly took a deep breath. "Since Heidi did this, I can"t indulge her anymore. But according to Iffy"s view, most of the witches in the Bloodfang a.s.sociation knew nothing about it, so later I"ll ask Camilla to call them here. If they"re willing to stay here and wait for results, we won"t treat them as enemies."
The two nodded. Sleeping Island had finally become boisterous, so no one wished these people to leave.
"When the storm is over, we"ll bring Heidi to the Western Region," she continued.
"To fight against the church?" Ashes was excited.
"Yes," Closing her eyes, Tilly said in a low voice, "To fight against the Judgement Army, G.o.d"s Punishment Army, Pure Witches and the Battle of Divine Will. Just as Roland said in his letters, witches will embrace real liberation if we can completely crush down the church. I would help him even if he wasn"t my brother, for it helps me too." She paused for a while. "Care to join me?"
"Of course," Ashes answered without hesitation, "I"ll always be with you."
Andrea nodded, but oddly enough, the smell of ice cream bread appeared in her mind.