CHAPTER 669: CHAPTER 42: WANT TO COMPETE AGAIN?

"Angela, when did you also learn to bluff?" Harman said, "Do you even know how to hold a sword?"

Gwen also said, "The battlefield for women is in the castle, mending clothes and bearing children for men. Wielding swords is not your concern. You should choose a proxy knight instead."

"If you really can’t pick one, I can recommend someone for you," Rafael added. "My attendant Vitelles, his Swordsmanship isn’t bad..."

"I will participate in the contest myself," Angela repeated.

This time she deliberately raised her voice a few notches, and the hall initially fell silent before erupting into laughter.

It wasn’t until the girl’s voice rang out again, "For the all-powerful Saturday has already bestowed upon me the strength to defeat formidable enemies."

The laughter in the hall abruptly stopped.

Gwen frowned slightly, "Hasn’t the Immanuel Family always worshipped the Silver Moon Goddess Pexia? How did you become a follower of Saturday?"

Without waiting for the girl to speak, he continued, "Or are you saying that you have betrayed Pexia to garner support from the Double Rest Sect? Such behavior is hardly honorable."

Miss Rabbit couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but she felt as though Gwen was implying something.

Seeing that Miss Weasel seemed at a loss for words, Galin took the initiative to speak up and announce.

"Miss Angela has not only joined the Double Rest Sect herself, but if she becomes the Family Head of the Immanuel Family, she will also lead the entire family and all the people of her lands to join the Double Rest Sect as well," he declared.

At these words, the nobles were instantly in uproar.

Harman went so far as to point directly at the housekeeper’s nose and curse, "The Immanuel Family has always valued honor; all of this must be your doing behind the scenes, you’re the one who instigated Angela to do this!"

"Indeed, it was my suggestion," Galin admitted straightforwardly, "Miss Angela accepted my advice."

"My father and sister trusted you, and yet you plan to use it to destroy the Immanuel Family," Rafael shouted angrily.

"On the contrary, everything Miss Angela and I have done is to protect the true interests of the family," the housekeeper said.

"You always like to talk about tradition and loyalty, but what’s interesting is that the Immanuel Family did not survive to this day on just those two things."

"Before the Figrola Family, you were vassals of the Enríquez Family; during the Battle of Blood Dragon’s Wail, your ancestors judged the situation and timely sided with the Empire, otherwise, you’d now be bandits in some mountain."

"So don’t always try to educate me about what is loyalty," Galin mocked, "Do you know why your father was reluctant to hand over the family to you?"

"Because you are too dull. Darkness is approaching, and you are still fantasizing about living in the glory of the old days. Miss Angela and I chose to worship Saturday because it is the only light in this darkness, no God is more generous or more powerful than it."

By bringing up matters from over nine hundred years ago, the housekeeper left the brothers Harman and Rafael momentarily speechless.

In the end, Harman could only snort coldly, "To make the entire family change their religion, you’d first need to become the Family Head. Since Angela, you refuse to use a proxy knight, then I will... have my Guard Captain Dirk keep you company."

Harman initially intended to enter the field himself, but at the last moment, he changed his mind.

As the saying goes, ’A man’s name is as shadowy as a tree’. The Double Rest Sect has quite the reputation in the west, and today, Li Yu the Prophet himself was present.

Although Harman did not think such a brief period was enough for Li Yu to turn Angela into an expert, playing it safe was never a mistake.

Despite his reluctance to admit it verbally, the girl’s earlier statement, "For your own safety, I hope you’ll consider conceding in advance," had indeed frightened him to some extent.

The guests in the hall also perceived Harman’s nervousness, and even if they said nothing aloud, they were somewhat looking down on him by now.

Dirk stepped out at the call, taking over the sword Harman had handed to him and walked up to Angela.

The crowd spontaneously cleared a space for them.

Dirk bowed to Angela and asked, "Where is your sword?"

"I don’t need it," the girl shook her head, pulling out the flintlock gun lent to her by Li Yu, and aimed it at Dirk’s chest.

As soon as Gwen, the referee, gave the command.

The girl pulled the trigger, following Li Yu’s instruction to extend her arm as straight as possible.

A loud bang erupted! The flashpan and the muzzle spewed out a puff of white smoke!

When the guests looked towards Dirk again, they saw the knight had already collapsed on his back!

Without any preamble or dramatic twist, the duel was unbelievably short, with the victor determined in the blink of an eye.

And Angela hadn’t even moved her feet, still maintaining her shooting posture from before.

Looking again at Dirk, who was twice her height, his chest was already soaked with fresh blood, and he emitted a pained groan.

Because he had just attended the luncheon, and his opponent was only the young girl Angela, the Guard Captain had been a bit arrogant and hadn’t worn any armor.

Taking this shot head-on, it looked like he was beyond saving.

Upon witnessing this scene, Harman was both shocked and furious, not bothering to check whether the Guard Captain was dead or alive, but instead pointing at Angela, he exclaimed, "How is this possible, how did you do this?! You took Dirk down so quickly!"

"It’s the Divine Power bestowed upon me by Saturday," Angela replied.

She could understand her brother’s shock, because when she first experienced the might of a flintlock gun, she too was deeply shaken!

This power completely transcended the mortal world.

In the face of such almighty force, humans had no resistance and could only submit.

The girl was reloading her bullet while simultaneously turning to her other brother and asked softly, "Shall we continue the duel?"

Rafael’s mouth was agape as well; his mind hadn’t caught up completely, instinctively wanting to nod.

But halfway through, he finally snapped back to his senses.

How... how could they fight, with Angela having the aid of the Double Rest Sect, directly invoking Divine Power.

Such a thing had been unheard of in the West until now, and Rafael recalled that the Double Rest Sect seemed to have fostered a Champion of a martial contest.

He had thought that so-called Divine Power was, at best, a boost to one’s conviction, at most adding some speed and strength, but this power, which directly claimed the opponent’s life, was too domineering.

At this moment, Rafael even began to understand why Galin and Angela had chosen the Double Rest Sect.

He knew that even if he sent more men forward, it would only be a futile sacrifice, so after a moment of silence, he still said, "You’ve won."