The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 193: The mission starts

Chapter 193: The mission starts

"What is on your back?"

Althea stared incredulously at the big bag Hex carried with him. She wasn’t alone. Hex’s turtle-like appearance drew loads of attention.

Some people smirked, some looked confused, while the majority seemed curious.

"The mission might take a lot of time to be completed. I wish to be prepared as much as possible," Hex replied. He didn’t mind the attention. In fact, he reveled in it. He looked straight at people staring at him, flashing proud smiles at them. No one knew how to respond, so they just smiled weakly in response and averted their eyes, unwilling to look at him again.

"Stop doing that," Althea playfully smacked Hex’s arm. During all this time together, their relationship reached a level of understanding at which words weren’t required.

They hadn’t discussed their respective missions with each other. They didn’t wish to burden each other with worries. Hex knew that Althea would realize the danger in his mission and would either try to team up or feel guilty about not being able to abandon her team. Conversely, he would rather trust Althea and her team than know her mission and try to look out for her.

"Will they open the gate to let us through?" Hex asked softly, gazing at the massive gates in front of him. The inner gates divided the districts from each other. To enter the central area, they would need to go through it. Every participant and soldier at the Knight stage was gathered around the camp, waiting to start their mission.

"I think," Althea said with a pensive look. "But I don’t think it’s wise to do so."

"When are the higher-ups ever wise?" Hex sniggered. He agreed with Althea. With so little information about the other districts, opening the gate could prove disastrous.

Crack!

Creak!

Just as he wondered whether they would have to scale the walls, the ground trembled. At first, he suspected the gates were being opened but a glance at them revealed it wasn’t the case. The tremblings increased and the noise became louder.

’It’s coming from the camp.’

Sure enough, slowly the large tents opened, revealing massive tools on wheels. Large Fiend-stage horses pulled the equipment. Hex stared agape at them. He recognized the build of the equipment. They looked like the tools in his backpack.

He counted ten pieces of equipment. The horses halted when they stood a hundred meters from the gate.

"Everyone."

Old Gargoyle appeared and jumped on top of the barrel of the equipment in the middle. His appearance attracted the participant’s attention. They huddled in a semi-circle in front of him. Hex stood behind the crowd, eager to know why these tools appeared.

"You guys have missions in different districts and regions. If a few hundred people appear at once in one location, the creatures might be alerted and we risk losing you all at once. Also, the gate can’t be opened. So, a few with parents I can’t fight against will scale the walls and safely reach the other side. I would request those with mothers who knew who to fuck make their way to the walls."

Hex noticed Tarquin and others close to him glare at the old man, who didn’t seem to care about their feelings. He shrugged and smiled innocently at him, waving them bye.

"Others will have to thank a few greedy merchants, who gave us these toys," Old Gargoyle continued once the others left.

"We will stuff you in these and fire you in the sky, trying to scatter you around the field. The ones with the worst luck will get injured during their landing. The luckier ones will reach an area with no to little danger, and the luckiest ones will die before knowing torture. So, who wants to be first to fly?"

"..."

No one moved. Hex rolled his eyes silently. The old freak’s speech scared the majority off. Even he wasn’t willing to jump into these things. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Althea ready to volunteer.

’This girl,’ he scowled but stepped forward, attracting everyone’s attention.

"Good lad!" Old Gargoyle grinned, his face revealing his desire to try the toys under him. When Hex stood close to him, the old man whispered so only Hex could hear him. "I think you will cause the biggest boom."

Hex ignored him. Surprisingly, he felt calm. Compared to the danger he would face, being shot into the air seemed the easiest part.

"Put these things on. They will provide some protection."

A person clad in blue and silver stood at the side and gave Hex some gear to wear. There was a helmet made of an unknown material to cover his head and pads to protect his joints. As soon as Hex accepted them, he sensed they were embedded Knight-grade tools.

"Move away!"

The Silver Serpent’s underlings shooed the others away. One helped Hex climb into the barrel. With his head sticking out, he lay in the barrel.

’Hmm, the sky is clear and bright today.’

At the angle he lay, he saw the morning sky devoid of clouds. The rays of the sun warmed his face nicely.

In the background, he heard screams. Suddenly, his senses tingled, pricked by the enormous energy building up beneath him. Before he could look down, his body jolted and his view changed.

BOOM!!!

The noise of explosion followed a second later, deafening him. The sky remained clear but it came closer. At the same time, he saw the wall and then he was beyond it.

A large forest appeared beneath him. Far, in the distance, he saw the outline of towering buildings. He held his breath in while the pain finally registered. The angle changed again. The trees came closer.

Crash.

The branches and leaves cut his skin as he fell through them. Hex hurried to pull his energy cloak around him. The cloak provided some protection but shattered when he hit the thick roots of one of the trees.

His body hurt badly but he didn’t break or twist anything. Hex hurriedly jumped onto his feet. His mission began.

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