Ashes

**Ashes** (also called **Ash** in the manhua) was a Transcendent witch and Tilly Wimbledon's bodyguard and lover. As part of Sleeping Spell, Ashes was Tilly's envoy and recruiter and primarily stuck around Tilly until being deployed with the First Army.

## Appearance

Ashes was a young woman with long black hair tied into a ponytail and golden eyes.

## Personality

Ashes was a brash person who stood firmly by her beliefs and was wary of anyone who had yet to earn her trust.

She was deeply loyal to those she put her faith in and was willing to resort to violence to protect her loved ones. Therefore, if any males claimed to be envoys for witches, Ashes would slay them if they turned out to be liars.

## Background

Ashes was one of the many women taken by the church to serve as witches or sex slaves. She inadvertently saved Wendy on the day she awakened her powers and escaped from the Church. Ashes attacked every church in the area, stealing from the dead and getting scarred by a faux God Punishment Warrior.

She spent the next decade as a vagrant, until Tilly visited the town she was in. Tilly took her in, giving Ashes her name and made her a bodyguard. She nearly killed Roland for touching her behind, but was stopped by Tilly.

At an unknown point, Ashes helped Tilly found the Sleeping Island with the help of the sea-faring adventurer Thunder, and began recruiting witches. This pointed them in contact with the Bloodfang Association, a brutal witch organization under Heidi Morgan's control that frequently lent witches to help out; Ashes was always wary of Heidi, who rightfully feared Ashes in turn. Around the time the Church orchestrated the Battle for the Crown, Ashes disappeared to the Sleeping Island with Tilly to hide out and create a haven for witches.

## Chronology

Ashes first appeared with her sisters during their interrogation of Theo. After hearing of Border Town's plan to aid witches, she decided to go with Theo to see if he was telling the truth.

### Operation Torch

She is later resurrected by Roland Wimbledon when he gets control of the Cradle.

## Powers & Abilities

Ashes is an experienced combatant, having learned swordsmanship due to Tilly's connections, and over time, she had been in numerous battles against members of the Church.

### Magic

Ashes could sense the form and flow of nearby magic power. As an Extraordinary, her ability belonged to the self-strengthening type and was not suppressed by God's Stones of Retaliation.

**Awakening**:Her magic greatly enhanced her physical capabilities, granting her immense strength and speed.

**Transcendent:** Ashes transcended during her battle against Ursrook, further improving her physical abilities and granting her the ability to summon bolts of lightning. According to the Magic Slayer, she is stronger than Transcendents of the Union.

## Equipment

**Ashes’s Broadsword**: This weapon was forged after pressuring a blacksmith with stolen materials gathered from others. It has accompanied Ashes in many battles, and the broadsword was destroyed after the duel with Carter Lannis, hinting that the weapon's durability was reaching zero before the match. The weapon was crafted with inferior pig iron as its core material.

**Ashbringer**: In the web novel, it is a normal Ashbringer. In the Manhua, it has a long hilt, five uniquely designed spikes at the beginning which start from the largest to the smallest and a small full moon mark and Chinese text almost at the end of the sword tip. Unlike Ashes' previous weapon that is created from inferior pig iron, her sword is now crafted from sturdy steel with assistance from Anna.

## Relationships

### **Allies**

#### Tilly Wimbledon

Ashes was romantically involved with and fiercely protective of Tilly to the point that she would not leave her side if she felt she was in danger or was specifically ordered to. Whenever Tilly teased her, Ashes pulled her into a kiss to make her swoon and apologise. In private, Ashes tends to act like a butler to Tilly, serving tea. She also makes sure to have lit candles for Tilly's bedroom due to Tilly's phobia of the dark.

#### Roland Wimbledon

Ashes was wary of Roland due to his lecherous advance towards her in the past; only Tilly kept her from killing him.

Unaware that "Roland" was now literally another person, she doubted he was capable of protecting the witches, much less eradicating the Church.
However, after her duel with his chief knight, she gave him her begrudging respect, and began to trust him more as he continued to make good on his promises.

#### Andrea

Ashes had a rivalry of sorts with Andrea, who in many ways was her opposite. The two often bantered and had opposing views on how to resolve situations, but they worked well together all the same.

### Witch Union

At first, Ashes was confused as to why the Union had undying loyalty towards Roland; no matter how much she tried to persuade them to join Sleeping Spell. However, after seeing Roland used their powers to help advance the lives of everyone and even make weapons superior to the Church, Ashes finally saw the Union was making more progress and had a more stable livelihood than the Sleeping Island. Ashes had no qualms about Maggie, Candle, Evelyn and Honey joining the Union; knowing it was their choice and that they would be welcomed.

#### Wendy

Ashes is on good terms with Wendy, whom she saved on her Day of Awakening by going on a murderous rampage against the church. Though Ashes doesn't remember that well.

#### Nightingale

Ashes thinks Nightingale is very touchy. She's also very wary of Nightingale since Ashes knows Nightingale could kill her before she's even aware of what happened due to her witch power(s). And Ashes knows first hand that Nightingale can back up her words.

#### Logar Burnflame

Ashes respects the lycanthrope witch as a fellow fighter. Though even Ashes herself thinks Logar doesn't know when to call it quits; that's saying something coming from a battle maniac like Ashes.

### **Enemies**

#### Church

Detests the church with a burning passion for their mistreatment of her and other choir girls.

#### Heidi Morgan

Ashes was outraged that Heidi had sold witches for her own benefit and took great pleasure in strangling her.

## Trivia

* The manhua adaption shows Ashes wearing armor on her right arm and left leg. While this initially seems strange, given Ashes is right-handed, this serves to allow her the freedom to wind up a swing of her arm and not leave her leg vulnerable.
* While never stated, the torture she endured from the church seemed to wipe her memory, as when she met Tilly, Ashes had no name and was given hers by Tilly.

## Gallery

Ashes & AndreaAshesAshesAshes sees Tilly for the first timeAshes (Full body)Flashback of Ashes and Wendy from when they were in the Church cloister in their childhood
## References

1. ↑ Considering she and Wendy went to parallel classes of choir and ritual, as said in chapter 127, they are about the same age.
2. ↑ Chapter 102 (manhua)
3. ↑ Chapter 1497
4. ↑ Chapter 1163