It felt so good to be close to the witch!

His gaze fell on the leader of the five knights, and from this man he felt a sense of oppression far exceeding that of Lord Denham.

Silver Knight!

The title that flashed through Roy's mind made him shudder. Then, his gaze swept over the "Bauhinia Sword" emblem on the chests of the five knights.

He was familiar with the "Bauhinia Sword" emblem; in fact, he was quite familiar with it.

No noble in the province of Rafa is unfamiliar with this emblem.

Because this emblem represents the Soros family, the uncrowned kings of the province of Lafa—the border dukes!

"Lord Roy, they are members of the Crimson Knights, the most elite knight order under Duke Soros."

Red stepped back a few paces, came to Roy's side, and whispered in his ear.

Upon hearing this, Roy nodded knowingly, spurred his horse forward, and spoke loudly:

"Greetings, esteemed knights of the Crimson Knights. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Roy Tulumbel, the eldest son of the Tulumbel family in Blackrock Territory."

“Hello, Mr. Roy.” The leading knight said in a deep voice, “I am Ayman Green, captain of the sixth squad of the Crimson Knights.”

“We have come here on the Duke’s orders to witness the outcome of the battle for the annexation of the territories between Iron Mountain Territory and Blackstone Territory.”

"Your presence here presumably indicates that the results have already been obtained."

At this point, Knight Ayman gave Roy a deep look: "The victory in Blackrock Territory was unexpected."

"Now that the results are in, it's time for us to leave. This is a letter from the Duke to the winner; please accept it, Mr. Roy."

A gilded envelope bearing the emblem of the "Bauhinia Sword" was thrown by Knight Ayman, landing precisely on the head of Roy's warhorse, demonstrating the Silver Knight's exquisite control over his power.

After handing over the envelope, Knight Ayman nodded to Roy, then led the four crimson knights away into the distance without looking back.

After watching the red knights disappear completely, Roy turned his gaze back to the envelope in his hand.

“A letter left by the Duke for the victor…” Roy frowned slightly. After a moment, he put the envelope away and ordered Red and the knights to enter Iron Mountain Fortress.

……

The takeover of Tieshan territory went very smoothly, with no resistance whatsoever.

In fact, as long as the common people have enough to eat and wear, they don't care who the lord is. In their eyes, all noble lords are the same.

As for the regular and apprentice knights who remained in Iron Mountain Fortress, facing Red, a bronze-level three-star knight, and twenty regular knights, knowing that their lord had been defeated and captured, they had no will to fight and surrendered without hesitation.

After entrusting some trivial matters concerning the takeover to Red, Roy walked alone up the stairs to the top of the fortress.

This was Lord Denham's private study when he was a lord, and it was also where he handled official business.

On the wall, there were some fixed lamps with burning kerosene lamps, bringing light to the dim room.

The shadow beneath Roy's feet began to distort, and then a figure dressed in tight black clothes, outlining a graceful figure, materialized from it.

It was the Shadow Witch, Lilia.

Her dark eyes were fixed on Roy, her voice pleading: "Lord Roy, could you please go and check on Vivian first?"

"The last time I saw her, her condition was already...not very good."

Roy, who was originally going to read the Duke's letter, nodded upon hearing this: "Okay, lead the way."

This was a "promise" he had made with the Shadow Witch Lilia—Lilia would help him deal with Lord Denham, and he would help Vivian alleviate the pollution problem.

Upon hearing Roy's words, the Shadow Witch Lilia's eyes lit up with joy, and she quickly led the way.

Following another staircase down, Roy and the Shadow Witch Lilia finally arrived at the entrance to a basement.

Chapter 44 The Part Closest to the Heart That Must Be Touched

The quiet glow of the kerosene lamp cast a long shadow of Roy.

The Shadow Witch Lilia lowered her hand, and in front of her were two unconscious gatekeepers lying on the ground.

Two full-fledged knights guarded this basement, stationed there under Lord Denham's strict orders. Even during the battle to merge with Blackrock Territory, Lord Denham did not remove them, demonstrating his fear of the witch.

The basement door was a heavy metal door, which was almost impossible to break open by brute force, but this did not deter the Shadow Witch Lilia.

She extended her pale finger, and a beam of shadow magic flowed into the keyhole of the metal door, filling and simulating... With a "click," the lock turned, and the metal door slowly opened.

Roy looked up and saw a metal cage firmly bound by chains extending from the four walls.

Each metal pillar of the cage is as thick as a normal person's forearm. Even a Silver Knight would never be able to break it by brute force alone without using weapons.

Inside the cage, a girl lay curled up.

Her face was very similar to that of the Shadow Witch Lilia, but her hair and skin were very different.

Her hair wasn't black, but a golden color that shone like sunlight. Her skin was as white as milk, so tender it seemed like it would burst with moisture if you pinched it. A black necklace adorned her neck, further accentuating her soft and fair skin.

She curled up, hugging her knees with both hands, her body trembling from time to time, as if enduring some unimaginable pain. Her delicate toes were all curled up, and her pretty brows were tightly furrowed.

The loose gray clothes she wore did nothing to conceal her radiance; she was like a holy angel who had fallen to earth and was suffering greatly.

"Vivian, the Witch of Light..."

Roy walked to the edge of the cage, gazed at the pitiful girl inside, and whispered:

"Miss Lilia, please remove the chains from your sister first."

Upon hearing this, the Shadow Witch Lilia immediately took action.

She would have done this long ago if she hadn't been worried about the witch controller in Lord Denham's possession.

Lord Denham has been captured alive, and she has taken the Witch Controller. As long as Lord Denham is alive, the Witch Controller will not automatically explode upon sensing the death of its bound person.

The power of the pitch-black shadow flowed into the keyhole, and after a brief adjustment, the door of the metal cage and the shackles and chains binding Vivian's limbs were opened together.

The Shadow Witch Lilia carefully carried her younger sister out of the cage, and seeing the pain between her brows, deep pity appeared in her eyes.

Roy glanced at the dirty and messy surroundings and shook his head: "Let's go, let's talk in the room upstairs."

After saying that, he turned around and headed out of the basement.

The Shadow Witch Lilia, holding Vivian, followed silently behind Roy.

……

Inside the lord's bedroom of Iron Mountain Fortress.

Roy watched as the Shadow Witch Lilia gently placed Vivian on the bed and said softly, "As agreed, I will alleviate the pollution on the Light Witch Vivian."

"But her condition is very serious and could get out of control at any time."

"therefore……"

Upon hearing Roy's words, the Shadow Witch Lilia's heart skipped a beat, and her face paled slightly. But before she could say anything, Roy said, "I can only remove a small part of the pollution from her body. To completely remove it, it will take quite a while."

The Shadow Witch Lilia's eyes lit up with surprise. Hearing the first half of Roy's sentence, she thought Roy was powerless to help her sister, and her heart sank. But she didn't expect this to be the case. She nodded hurriedly, "This is already very good!"

“There’s one more thing I need to tell you beforehand.” Roy’s expression turned serious: “For my ability to absorb contamination, there must be physical contact. Your sister Vivian’s situation is special. To be on the safe side, I must touch the part of her body closest to her heart.”

"Of course, I could also absorb the contaminants by contacting other parts of the body, but the risks would be unpredictable."

"what do you mean?"

"The part closest to the heart..." Upon hearing Roy's words, the Shadow Witch Lilia didn't react at first. A few seconds later, she understood where Roy meant by "part," and a faint blush crept onto her neck.

She pursed her lips: "Use the safest method."

"Safety is the top priority; nothing else matters."

Upon hearing this, Roy nodded: "Then please tidy up your sister's clothes."

Vivian, the Witch of Light, is a very special case; she is the witch Roy has ever seen who is closest to losing control.

Her situation wasn't even on the verge of spiraling out of control; she was practically on the verge of it.

Through several attempts to absorb the pollution, Roy has learned that the witch's magic is mainly stored in her heart, and that the pollution and magic are intertwined and inseparable. Therefore, the best place to absorb the pollution is in front of the heart.

The Shadow Witch Lilia reached out and gently removed Vivian's clothes. Because the clothes were loose, they could be pulled down from her left shoulder.

A vast expanse of dazzling white skin came into view, with some areas undulating like mountains. Roy took a deep breath, not daring to look too long. He took out a low-purity magic crystal with his left hand and raised his right hand to touch the "part closest to the heart".

A soft touch entered the palm, and the "part closest to the heart" seemed dissatisfied with the external pressure, trying hard to push the palm away, but to no avail. In the end, it could only bring a more wonderful feeling to the "external pressure".

Without hesitation, Roy activated his talent [Infinite Desire].

Before the battle began today, to ensure everything went smoothly, he exhausted all the energy in his body beforehand. During the battle with Jax, he used [Infinite Desire] to completely drain the two streams of fighting spirit within Jax's body, so at this moment his body could only hold eight streams of energy.

Adding the 10 levels from the two low-purity magic crystals, that makes 18 levels.

Roy wasn't sure if absorbing 18 units of energy would be enough to pull the Light Witch Vivian back from her semi-out-of-control state, but the situation was critical, and he could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

Once [Infinite Desire] was activated, Roy felt waves of pollution rushing into his body and being rapidly converted into energy.

Four seconds later, Roy's energy saturation reached 100%.

He immediately transferred energy into the low-purity magic crystal in his hand.

2.5 seconds later, the first low-purity magic crystal reached the critical saturation state, so Roy took out the second low-purity magic crystal.

Another 2.5 seconds passed, and the second low-purity magic crystal also reached saturation.

Without hesitation, Roy immediately disconnected from [Infinite Desire].

Chapter 45 An unexpected gain

"Hu Chi... Hu Chi..."

Roy was breathing heavily. The long-lost feeling of being "full" made it difficult for him to even breathe. He was like a balloon that had been inflated to its limit, and it might burst at the slightest touch.

Suppressing his discomfort, he turned his gaze to Vivian, the Witch of Light, on the bed, and used his fingers to pull open her eyelids until he saw that the number of black veins moving in her pupils had decreased by a full 40%, at which point he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay."

"She just needs to rest for a while, and she should be able to wake up."

Roy withdrew his hand, nodded to the extremely nervous Shadow Witch Lilia, and said.

After checking Vivian's condition several times until she was sure she was out of danger, Lilia finally felt relieved, her eyes slightly reddening.

After tidying up Vivian's clothes, the Shadow Witch Lilia walked to Roy's side and knelt down on one knee.

"Thank you very much, Lord Roy."