The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 102: A thundering whisper

Chapter 102: A thundering whisper

"Try to obstruct her," Althea whispered, readying her spear to engage the floating woman before her. "I will focus on killing her."

"I would love to but I can’t sense the nature element around us," Hestia sighed in response, causing Althea to frown. "I can only use the seeds I nurtured for a while. They can work but there is a limited amount of them."

"Watch out!"

Althea shouted while suddenly doing a backflip. Alice had attacked suddenly. Her movements were like that of a phantom. The ground where Althea stood a moment ago, was shattered.

Alice was on one knee but didn’t let a failed attempt stop her. She struck out with her hand at Hestia who was a step too late. The touch of Alice’s hand pushed her a few meters back.

"How is this bitch so strong?!" Hestia cursed loudly, holding her side where she was struck. "She was just an average Squire!"

The strength and speed Alice had displayed so far surpassed all their understanding. Althea landed on her feet and performed a lunge. Her front leg was bent as she used more than half of the spear to strike.

The attack came from a close distance. Usually, it would have hit the opponent, piercing into their chest. But Alice was too quick. She moved back, with the spear tip touching her tattered dress.

The sharp point of Althea’s spear cut the strings holding the front of the dress. With the strings destroyed, the front of the dress fell open, showing Alice’s chest.

She didn’t attempt to cover herself up. Hestia noticed fine cuts on her skin. Alice’s stomach area was still covered for a large part, making it hard for Hestia to discern more.

Hestia didn’t tarry. Her mark glowed softly. In the next instance, vines appeared below Alice’s feet, wriggling and expanding within a fraction of a second.

She hadn’t reestablished her connection with the nature element yet. These were the long-cultivated seeds she had dropped just before being hit by Alice.

Alice tried to float up but the vines seemed to be sentient. While she managed to move and avoid the center ones, one of the vines sneaked behind her and caught her ankle. It yanked it to the floor, causing more vines to wrap around her.

Althea saw her opportunity. She followed her lunge through with an extended strike, using the full length of the spear. The strike was fast and menacing. The moment she moved, an outline of a dragon formed around the spear. With a thunderous roar, the dragon-cloaked spear attacked Alice.

A split second before the hit, Alice opened her mouth, emitting a soundless shriek, clashing against the spear. The clash caused shockwaves to burst out. Hestia fell flat on the floor to defend herself. Althea, however, remained firm-footed. She gritted her teeth and pushed her spear further.

The dragon disappeared, leaving the glistening tip of her spear to penetrate the wall of shrieks. The tip hit Alice squarely in the throat, causing her to gag. The wall disappeared as soon as she was struck.

Althea somersaulted, attempting to close the distance between Alice and her. When she landed, Alice had already recovered. She lurched toward Althea, who reacted with a backkick, hitting and pushing simultaneously.

Under no circumstance could Althea allow her to land a blow on her. With Alice’s unexplained strength, Althea would be injured, rendering her incapable of fighting.

Hestia noticed that Alice had already freed herself from her vines. She was failing at her movement-impeding techniques. Without it, they wouldn’t last the whole minute. As she watched Althea dodge an incoming attack, an idea struck her.

’If Althea gets hit, she will be injured. Me too. But unlike her, I can recover quickly.’

Hestia had two main abilities, crowd control with vines, and healing powers, which she could use on others and herself.

’Somehow they managed to seal my abilities with vines but I still have my healing powers and seeds,’ she thought and grimaced. ’Her hits do hurt like hell though.’

But she wasn’t someone to retreat in the face of pain or danger. She ran and shouted at Althea.

"I will obstruct her. Focus on landing a hit!"

"...And hit hard!"

’Please finish this quickly,’ she prayed and jumped in Alice’s way. Her attack, aimed at Althea, landed on Hestia, causing her to spit blood. The blow was strong enough to send her flying. But the moment Hestia’s feet left the floor, a thick vine appeared and wrapped around her, keeping her in place. Hestia had used her seeds to use crowd control on herself.

She groaned in pain. The healing effect activated instantly. But healing was often more painful than the hit itself.

Althea was an experienced combat person. The moment she saw Hestia throw herself between their fight, she understood her plan. While Alice’s hit landed on Hestia, Althea jumped into the air with her spear perfectly still, throwing herself toward Alice. Her attack hit Alice in the chest.

"YES!" Hestia cheered but her smile faded immediately.

Alice’s uncovered chest flashed brightly with golden light, healing the wound. After that, Alice threw a punch at Hestia. Hestia gritted her teeth and took the hit. It hurt...but less?

’Is she getting weaker?’

Althea had attacked again, stabbing her chest, again. Hestia was paying attention. The golden light flashed. The wound was gone. And then she saw it. The light in Alice’s eyes was fading.

"She is weakening! Keep stabbing her!"

Hestia threw herself at Alice, attracting her attention and attacks. This left Althea open to attack from behind her. One more stab. One more flash. And the light dimmed more.

The next attack only stung a little. Hestia grinned. Althea stabbed. There was one more flash. The light in Alice’s eyes had disappeared.

Alice didn’t even move when Althea’s next attack came at her. She looked blankly at them. The spear pierced through her, coming out of her back. There was no flash this time. Alice’s body started to slump.

Hestia cheered but her eyes met Alice’s. The blank look had gone. She looked...alive. Her golden light was gone. There were only two thin streams of tears rolling over her cheeks.

She looked at Hestia and opened her mouth, speaking weakly.

"T-thank you..."

With that, under the shocked eyes of Hestia and Althea, Alice’s body went limp. Her eyes lost all color. Only a relieved smile remained on the young woman’s face.

In the distance, the sound of footsteps appeared. But Hestia and Althea stood frozen in place. The soft voice of the dying woman still thundered in their ears.

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