The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 225: At the Temple (1)

Chapter 225: At the Temple (1)

"Come on. Get on your feet!"

Hex heard one of the guards growl as he opened the door of his cell. Hex stood up and stretched.

"Get over here."

The guard pulled him by his clothes and dragged him out of the cell. Hex didn’t resist nor showed any displeasure on his face.

He descended the steep ladder on the side of the wall and joined the others in the middle of the hall. Hex noticed that all the prisoners looked well-fed and relaxed. Some even cracked jokes with each other.

’They expect to be used as labor. They don’t know what their fate will be.’ Hex almost sighed but then thought further. ’Ah...even I don’t know what they are used for. But I doubt it will be something pleasant.’

The guard barked at them but so far they restrained from using force on them. Hex didn’t think it came out of the goodness of their hearts. Rather, they treated the prisoners as vulnerable valuables. They feared damaging the goods.

They filed outside and followed through the darkness. He observed the others around him. The guards looked tense while the prisoners looked nervous and curious. The darkness concealed a lot. But the outline of the fallen buildings and empty alleys drew the curiosity of the prisoners.

Hex’s senses tingled crazily the closer they got to the Temple. The number of guards increased immensely. He sensed fewer Knights and more Refined Knights around the Temple. He expected this but something felt off.

’Are there more Refined Knights tonight compared to last night?’

Hex doubted his memory at first. But as he climbed the stairs, his doubts turned into certainty. ’Is this normal for such nights?’

Hex passed through the heavy gates and entered the wide hall of the Temple. His heart tightened as soon as he laid his eyes on the interior.

The Temple’s build didn’t differ from the one in Notrelune. A massive monolith stood in the middle with many smaller monoliths around it. The seating area - the area with chairs and benches in Notrelune’s Temple - stood empty.

Guards lined along the circumference of the hall. The energy fluctuations radiating from them belonged to Refined Knights. On the platform, in front of the monolith, stood five people. Hex couldn’t sense the stages of any of the five.

’Shit. Are they all above the Refined Stage?’

Hex considered writing his will but remembered he didn’t own anything yet. ’Damn. I went against Heaven and am still poor as fuck?’

Hex reined his mind in. He felt nervous but it wasn’t the first time he was up against powers way beyond his abilities. His eyes darted back to the five on top of the platform.

Three out of the five were beautiful ladies. Some doubt rose in his heart. Two out of the three didn’t seem too old. Either their talent defied logic or they weren’t as strong as he suspected.

’But why can’t I sense their power levels?’

The other woman looked mature and calm. Even though he couldn’t sense her, he didn’t doubt she was a powerhouse. The men beside her also seemed dangerous.

The women looked at the prisoners. Somehow, their gazes gave Hex the feeling as if they could see through their flesh and into their soul. As he followed their gaze, he realized something disturbing.

’Their eyes. They contain all the colors of nature.’

There was no mistaking it. Hex had seen all these colors during rainy seasons above the mountains. The mountain folk believed the colors in the sky belonged to nature, giving color to all creation beneath Heaven.

A sudden shiver passed through his spine. He looked up and found himself staring into the eyes of the woman he suspected to be the powerhouse. They looked at each other for a while when he noticed her lips curl into a smile.

The woman was beautiful. Very beautiful. But the smile on her face sent warnings through Hex’s body. It was akin to a look predators gave to their prey when they toyed with them. She looked away quickly but Hex felt sweat trickly down on his back.

’Does she recognize me? Or is there something else about me?’

"Is everyone here?"

One of the men on the platform asked, breaking the silence inside the Temple. His voice was soft but echoed loudly inside the hollow hall.

"This is the primary group, sir."

The warden stepped out from the side. He looked the same as a few days ago. He clapped into his hand, following a door at the side of the Temple opened. Another group entered through the door.

Aside from the guards leading them and one man in the middle, Hex recognized the others. Esmeralda stood at the front, wrapped in chains and shackles. She struggled vehemently. The red marks on her arms and face indicated she suffered a lot but her spirit remained fierce.

The two people behind her weren’t strangers either. The man with beautiful features was the SS2’s Vice-Captain. He looked panicked and whimpered softly. He even fluttered his long eyelashes pleadingly at the five on the platform. It only earned him a smirk and a scowl.

The woman beside him was the calmest of the group. Even in her torn clothes, she radiated an allure. Hex caught one of the men on the platform watching her with interest until his partner frowned at him.

Hex couldn’t blame the man though. Briella belonged to one of the most beautiful ladies he had seen.

The two teams were ushered together. Hex hid behind the others. If Esmeralda or Briella noticed him, his cover would be blown before he could act.

They stood huddled in the middle of the hall. They waited. The others might not know but Hex knew who they waited for. The King.

...

"Elena."

Elena just stepped out of her bathing room when she heard a stern voice calling her. The voice always made her nervous and fearful.

She hurriedly put her clothes on and went to her father’s chamber. Before she could open the door, it opened on its own.

"Yes, father?" She stood before a tall man with handsome features. His long black hair cascaded over his shoulders and his dark blue eyes shone like the night sky. Even as he stood in his chamber, Elena felt as if the world bent to his will.

"Am going to the Temple."

Elena knew that. She didn’t know why he was telling her that. He never used to. But she knew better than to ask.

"I will wait for your return, father," she said.

"Tonight you will accompany me."

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