The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 104: The unexpected help

Chapter 104: The unexpected help

Hestia groaned. The dark figures were phantom-like. Their attacks burned but when attacked they dissolved and materialized again.

They reduced visibility and made it hard to breathe. Hestia was using her self-healing abilities without pause.

’The only way to stop them is by taking that Elron guy out. But that’s easier said than done,’ Hestia sighed inwardly. They were up against a Refined Knight. At that stage, a Knight had fully mastered at least one element, creating an elemental circle with their Blessing.

She tried to remain close to Althea, teaming up with her like they did earlier. She obstructed the opponent’s attacks, while Althea attacked from behind her.

Rumble.

Althea’s spear struck out like the tail of a dragon. It was sudden, quick, and powerful. The soft thunderous echoes accompanying her strike helped dissolve the figures quicker and seemed to delay their rematerialization.

On the other side of their battle, Briella and Ivran had teamed up. They aimed to find a way through the figures and either engage with Elron or stop Lira.

"Can you keep them engaged for a bit longer?" Hestia suddenly heard Althea whisper to her. She didn’t know why the girl had posed such a request but she knew it wasn’t fatigue.

She nodded and the dim green light on the back of her hand glowed brighter. It was almost a flare. A soft green light enveloped her as she threw herself against the crowd of figures, attracting them like mots to a flame.

’They are missing sentience nor are they controlled. They seem to operate under basic instructions, which can’t be altered.’

Their behavior gave Hestia plenty of insights into the way they worked. There was plenty of space to evade or bypass Hestia and go toward the others. But they remained in one area where they obstructed the path towards Elron and Lira.

Rumble!

Hestia didn’t turn to look behind her but she could feel the massive energy concentrating in one point. ’She seems to be going all out,’ Hestia grinned but stopped because she burst out in coughs. Her lungs and air pipe seemed to be clogged. Her eyes were burning. She was almost drowned in darkness.

BOOM!

Just as everyone went dark before her eyes, Hestia felt a blast of air in her face, throwing her back. She coughed violently, spitting out blood. Her self-healing focused on her eyes, helping her recover her sight immediately. She gasped for breath as she opened her eyes.

Althea’s spear was stuck on the floor close to where she had been, shattering the tiles. The dark figures were gone. The air was filled with dark shreds of them, twirling around as if searching for each other. The blast had destroyed everything around it, except the container and the rune. Lira continued, ignoring them as she had been so far.

Elron stood in front of her. Hestia’s eyes went immediately to his hand. His hand had blackened, with grey and white spots. There were cracks in it, which glowed like...embers...

"Wood and fire dual elements," Hestia said, taking a deep breath.

"Those were figures made of smoke and ashes, not shadows," Althea said as she looked at Elron’s grinning face. "Worthy of a chef and brewer."

"Thank you, Miss," Elron beamed with pride. "I like you guys so much I hoped to preserve your bodies by smoking them. Alas, you thundered that away."

Elron giggled at his joke. He didn’t see the incoming attack till it was late.

Crack!

Ivran’s lance struck against his charcoal-like hand, cracking it open like dried wood. The splinters flew out. But even with his steel lance - Ivran was close to his mastery of the steel element - Ivran only managed to destroy his hand. Elron had not moved even an inch.

Ivran had barely stopped when another figure barreled toward him with a sword. Elron’s hooded partner’s sword was fast and sharp. Ivran backed away, with the sword only grazing him but still a gash appeared on his chest. The sword had cut into his Knight-grade armor and chainmail.

"Blessed sword," Briella said, hurrying to Ivran’s side to tend his wounds. Her expertise was illusion but she was also adept at healing techniques, albeit not at Hestia’s or Lira’s level.

"Wonderful!" Elron cheered. The loss of his hand with the mark didn’t bother him. They soon found out why. Out of the stump left on his shoulder grew another branch, rapidly growing till it was shaped like his arm. It even had the same glowing circle on the back of his hand.

Billowing smoke appeared out of the circle. His hand was burning once again. He looked at his partner and threw a small vial at him. He did the same with Lira.

"You guys are truly worthy of experiencing my brews. I made this brew by experimenting with the corpses of all these fallen Squires and Knights. Heck, I even used some Demonic beasts. It’s called Heaven’s Piss as in, it pisses on Heaven’s way by letting the user gain abilities above his stage for a brief period. Brilliant, isn’t it?"

’He is showing off. But why?’ Hestia didn’t take Elron’s behavior seriously. He was acting dumb and was bragging but an idiot had no way of reaching the Refined stage.

"Attack together!" Althea said, readying her spear. "We are losing time."

Althea’s words reminded Hestia about the bigger picture. They were losing time with Elron while the bigger threat was Lira. Or rather, the Witch who was close to coming alive.

"I don’t like you." Seeing everyone coming at him, Elron narrowed his eyes and said sinisterly. His gaze fixed on Althea.

Multiple branches, glowing like embers, shout out from his hand. They struck the incoming Knights, forcing them into defense. Elron’s partner slipped between the branches, slashing and cutting anyone he could.

Their combined attack became difficult to withstand. The wounds and burn marks were stacking. Althea’s spear and Ivran’s lance danced in the air. Althea was fast and struck the thinner branches. Ivran was slow but much more powerful. He was trying to burst a path open.

But with time they started to slow down. The smoke and ashes constricted their breathing once more. Even Hestia with her self-recovery was gasping and coughing.

The branches surrounded them, the smoke smothered them, and the ashes and embers burned them. It was a cage slowly constricting them.

Suddenly the space around contorted. It twisted as if it was breaking free. The next moment, all the branches were cut open. The smoke disappeared. The ashes were gone.

"What now?!" Elron exclaimed irritated. Hestia and the others looked confused too. Who helped them?

"You guys created a mess. How will I answer my master for this?"

A voice, calm and puppet-like sounded from the entrance. They turned at once. Wallen, the butler, clad in his black robe, walked in as he eyed the broken cabinets and the smears on the floor. He didn’t look at the wounded people. They seemed less important.

"Who is going to clean all this up?"

His face was still but his eyes were ablaze with anger. Briella, who only knew Wallen as a servant, panicked and spoke.

"Be careful. He is a Refined Knight!"

Wallen didn’t flinch hearing her. He looked at Erlon who had stopped smiling ever since Wallen entered.

"So?" Wallen asked finally as he removed his glove, revealing a dark blue glittering circle on the back of his hand. "A Refined Knight can barely apply for the post of assistant butler."