The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 198: Land of Disasters

Chapter 198: Land of Disasters

’Why is there a Disaster at each step?’

Hex missed the time when he faced Demons and Fiends. Even though he was weaker then, at least the creatures at that level had less stamina and vigor. They died when cut enough. Disasters and above seemed to recover at their last breath.

Bang.

Hex flitted through the trees, trying to evade the boa. The snake used its massive body like a spring, shooting through the air like an arrow. It was fast and deadly.

’How the fuck is this thing so fast? Is that giant body filled with gas?’

Massive ancient trees splintered when the boa crashed into them. Hex saw its twenty-meter-long and one-meter-wide body after the boa left the waters.

Flex Step!

Dark Blizzard Strike!

As soon as the beast crashed into a tree, Hex turned and approached it with his movement technique. Before the creature untangled its body, Hex rained his blizzard strike, unleashing more than thirty strikes at blinding speed. Each strike unleashed sharp ice spikes, impaling into the snake’s body. The black and blue spikes slowed and corroded the beast.

’The Souldust works wonders but inflicting enough wounds on such a beast will empty all my reserves.’

The black swirl inside his inner space prevented regeneration but the cost was high. It would take hundreds if not thousands of cuts to seriously injure the twenty-meter-long boa.

Bang.

"Argh!"

Hex spurted blood as a moment of negligence caused him to be hit by the boa. His body flew backward with the snake on top of him.

With one twist of its massive body, the snake strangulated his body.

"Grrr!"

Hex groaned in agony. The snake pressed against his ribcage, trying to compress him from all sides.

Thud.

They finally landed on the ground but Hex couldn’t feel it. The beast spun him, rolling more of its body around him, preventing him from breaking free.

Dark Frost Armor!

The ice crystals around the armor stood up with their edges outward. The crystals shattered. Blood trickled from the wounds inflicted on the beast. The black gas corroded the wounds further, preventing them from closing up.

The boa’s growling hiss told Hex its injuries pained it but not enough to release its grip around him. He lost his sword during the crash but to a scavenger losing his weapon didn’t mean much.

Hex exerted all his strength and moved his body closer to the wounds. As soon as he was within reach, he cloaked his fingers in energy fused with the black swirl.

Black Finer Penetration!

Hex growled inwardly and pushed eight fingers inside the wounds.

Ss.

The boa’s flesh sizzled and the moisture vaporized. Feeling its body jerk strongly, Hex grinned. Gritting his bloodied teeth, Hex held firmly onto the wound and started to pull them wider.

His muscles strained. A snake-type Disaster possessed a tenacious body but Hex’s resolve penetrated through it. Bit by bit, the wound started to widen. The beast felt the pain immediately.

It trashed around in agony. Its growls turned softer and its hisses longer. It even loosened its grip by a fraction but Hex sensed it immediately. He used the opportunity to reposition his upper body and pulled the wounds even wider. He felt his muscles sprain and pain but he continued to pull. His so-called Souldust increased around the fingers, corroding and burning the flesh and blood even faster.

’Now!’

The wound opened wide enough to push his entire arm through it, so he did. He made sure every centimeter of his arm going into the body was covered with the Souldust.

Dark Blizzard Strike!

Hex even used the straight insertion of his arm in the manner he would do with a sword, applying the technique behind the sword strike. To his surprise, he succeeded. His arm went through the flesh like a hot knife through butter.

The attack injured the beats further. It trashed wildly. The pain overwhelmed it. The boa finally loosened its grip around Hex enough for him to wriggle away. But Hex didn’t.

Flex Step.

With his hand already deep into the boa’s body, he used his feet to push against the ground. Using his hand like a sword, he penetrated deeper into the beast’s body. It tried to move away from Hex. But Hex didn’t let it.

Flex Step!

Second Blessing!

Hex used the part of its body under him to push deeper. This time he blasted himself inside.

Splash.

Hex exited from the other side, shooting through the body of the boa, leaving a massive hole in it. The boa hissed and tried to slither away but finally, the disadvantages of a massive body became apparent.

The hole Hex inflicted onto it was around the middle of its body. It failed to move that part, weakening its control over the lower parts. It couldn’t coil like a spring to move. Half of its massive body turned into dead weight.

Hex stumbled and crawled, looking for his sword. The beast didn’t move far off so he found the sword rather quickly, sticking in the muddy ground. He pulled it out.

’I am not leaving this bastard alive.’

It wasn’t pleasant being strangled by such a snake. It used its excellent control to press and compress Hex from all directions. His bones hurt and he feared to have cracked two of his ribs.

"Take this, bitch!"

Cursing loudly, Hex rained cuts and slashes over the boa. It tried to curl to defend itself but it only managed to hide its head underneath the upper portion of his body.

But to Hex it didn’t matter. He pushed his already-injured body to the limits, being not even frugal with his Souldust reserves. He focused mainly on the parts he could cut to get to its head.

After hours of cutting and slashing, he reached the head. The cold eyes seemed less intimidating now. Without hesitating a bit, Hex pushed his sword inside the eye, into its brain. The body trashed but slowly it quietened down.

"Ah..Ah..Take t...that."

Gasping loudly, Hex fell onto the ground, pulling his sword out. A thick slimy glob remained on it but Hex couldn’t bother to wipe it. His body hurt like hell. It seemed he would faint due to exhaustion but he held on.

’Another Disaster.’

His senses went off like crazy. Another creature seemed to have heard their battle and decided to be part of it. Hex picked up his sword and walked in the opposite direction. In his current state, even a Fiend would be challenging, not to mention a Disaster.

’I need to find a shelter. I wonder how far I can go.’

...

Awooo!

"Please stop chasing me!"

Hex despaired as he rushed through the thicket of thorny bushes. At some point, he lost his shirt. The thorns cut into his flesh, worsening his state. His nature element struggled to keep up with the injuries he suffered so far.

After the boa, he walked hundreds of meters before sensing another Disaster. He avoided it but stepped into the territory of woodland wolves. At first, he didn’t worry too much because he sensed Demons and Fiends but he quickly discovered the alpha and two others at the Disaster stage. They hurried toward him after being alerted by the smaller members of the pack.

Hex ran and ran. He used Flex Step wherever and whenever he could.

Splash!

After a while, the thorny bush ceased and he stepped into a marsh-like landscape. The only sound nearby where that of crickets and other insects. The wolf howls turned weaker.

’I guess I am out of their territory but Heaven knows which beast lies here.’

He didn’t doubt he would encounter something else at this point. The central region brimmed with Disasters and Calamities. It made sense though. Only those beasts could survive in a ruin filled with Heartless.

Hex was so tired and in agony, that his fear of water and unstable ground didn’t even appear as he waded listlessly through the marsh. He just wished to find a place to sleep and recover.

"There."

Seeing a massive, hollow fallen tree at the edge of the marsh, his eyes lit up. He didn’t exit the marsh for he didn’t know what danger lay ahead. The trunk was half his size in diameter. He crawled inside. Surprisingly, it was clean - it lacked insects, worms, and dirt - making it the best place he could wish for at this point.

He drew rations out of his back and threw the crumbles inside his mouth. Most content was damaged due to the boa but thankfully the protective covers around the tools did their job.

Before allowing himself to sleep, he checked the map. Based on the time and steps he reckoned he was at most three days from the gate to the Temple district.

’I am getting close to the Temple...and to the chance of dying.’

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