The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 226: At the Temple (2)

Chapter 226: At the Temple (2)

"Faster. There isn’t much time left till midnight."

Ella pushed her crew to speed things up. The giant tool they were assembling pushed them to their limits. The complexity of the assembly caused even the Stellar Shield to sweat profusely.

She looked worried at the dark sky above. Her life depended on the success of this mission. The Merchant Council didn’t like their prominent members choosing a side. They believed in neutrality. Most profits came from earnings from all sides of the conflict.

As a born and bred member of a prominent merchant family, she believed in the principle too. The issue was her opponent. She admitted her inferiority in front of Sterling. Heck, she even loved him. But she wished to be the top earner and that wasn’t possible if she stuck to conventional means.

To win, she turned to the second principle of merchants: the higher the risk, the higher the reward. So, she gambled her life on it. If the Divine Lord succeeded, she would outearn the entire Union. And if he failed...well, she would be dead to know the consequences.

She felt her heart beat wildly inside her chest. The nervousness and excitement of tonight gave her a rush that sent shivers through her body. She looked at her ship, the River Serpent, and thought about her childhood crush.

"Is this how you feel every time you do something crazy?"

...

Sterling’s heart thumped loudly inside his chest. It wasn’t nervousness. Only excitement.

As his men loaded the giant construct, he stared toward the Temple district. He didn’t see a damn thing, not even the walls. It was the darkest night of the month, after all. But he still smiled.

"You do know you seem crazy to onlookers, right?" Quid stood at his side and sniggered.

Sterling shrugged without looking.

"Yeah, I thought so," Quid continued. "It’s a shame they don’t know that you are crazier than you look."

"Sir, we are ready."

Quid and Sterling turned toward the giant construct. Sterling nodded at the servant and boarded the construct.

"Strap in, young master." A beautiful female Knight hooked her arm on one side of Sterling. "It’s going to be a wild night, master." Another female took a seat on his other side, leaning onto him.

"Behave. There will be plenty of time to play if we succeed." Sterling said with a smile.

"Rublena. Dolaire. I am a young master too," Quid teased from the other side, earning a snort from the sisters.

Before Quid could follow up, the construct shuddered. The construct was twenty meters long and five meters wide. The height was about seven meters. But the two large wings unfurled from the side were each fifty meters long.

The wings stretched to their limits when a loud blast shot the construct in the air. The shock made the passengers groan. The explosion blasted half of the housing district into smithereens. People rushed out to see what happened.

Sterling and Quid exchanged a glance. This was a moment of success or death. Just as the construct was about to descend, the rows of servants operated the numerous levers on the side. The wings flapped and moved the construct forward.

The ride wasn’t smooth. The turbulent wind at such a height caused the construct to move tumultuously but they stayed in the air.

The people on the ground looked slackjawed at the construct move. The construct looked like a dragon flying or at least trying to fly.

Despite the wild ride, Sterling burst into laughter. Quid quickly joined, followed by the others. They did the impossible.

At the side, the name of the ship shone brightly with silver light.

The Winged Serpent sailed the sky.

...

Humans are the weirdest creations. They either suck or soar.

The Divine Lord stood at the window and looked at the moving construct. His body grew to the one of a child at the age of ten. He seemed truly impressed by the creation moving through the sky.

"Hmpf." Elsa snorted disgruntled. "Those toys wouldn’t last a second in my time. The Sky belongs to my kind. If He didn’t kill us to extinction, we still would rule the space above the world."

Only fools live in the past. Today He reigns and your kind is gone. He is the winner. Start moving or you might lose again.

The Divine Lord’s harsh words hit Elsa where it hurt. She was trying to play it safe. Yet after all this time she didn’t gain any advantage. She was still only a remnant spirit, who possessed promising members of her muddied bloodline.

"Perhaps I will see you after this is done." With that, she walked out of her house. Ice crystals formed around her. Chaos would engulf the ruin. If she could use it to her advantage, she would regain what once belonged to her. The ruler of the Skies would soar once more. If not, she hoped to see her loved ones in the cold reaches of the underworld.

Seeing her leave, the Divine Lord smiled. He didn’t spend so many days reminiscing about old days for nothing.

Finally. With her in the fray, things will become quite chaotic. And that chaos will birth a new order.

...

Despite lacking a sandglass, Hex knew midnight crawled closer. It was the time of the night when darkness was at its deepest.

He managed to hide himself in the group. Esmeralda’s attention was on her struggle to break free from her chains and shackles. Briella stood calm and collected. Her calmness hinted at some approaching storm.

’If I know the Dawnbringers, they wouldn’t sacrifice a piece without any gain in return. Something will happen tonight. Even if they didn’t plan on Briella’s capture, they will adjust their schemes to profit from it.’

Strangely, knowing their ability to cause upheavals, filled Hex with courage. Only amidst chaos did he stand a chance of success.

As he contemplated all the ways he could achieve his goals without dying, the gate of the Temple opened. The loud creaks alerted everyone.

Everyone turned toward the entrance, even Esmeralda. An old hunched man walked through the gate. Although the man looked frail, everyone stood upright and with respect.

"Lord, welcome. We didn’t expect you," the five on top of the platform bowed while the man in the middle spoke. Aside from the female powerhouse, all others seemed genuinely surprised.

"I had to come. As will others. Those who are with us, those who are against us."

A bad feeling rose in Hex’s heart. The others looked confused by the Gatekeeper’s speech. But before they could ask to clarify, someone else spoke.

"Indeed, Uncle. But those who are against us, won’t be leaving alive." The voice came from an opened side door. A tall figure with a regal bearing entered. His hair was tied up in a bun with a small crown adorned on his head. At his side, a beautiful girl entered.

’She isn’t supposed to be here.’ The bad feeling Hex had, worsened at the sight of Elena entering with the King.

His worries deepened when his senses picked up a horde of creatures. The horde consisted of Disasters. There were tens of those creatures. And they were coming from the direction of the noble district.

The others bowed as soon as the King entered. Some of the prisoners, Hex too, followed suit. Others, like Esmeralda, Briella, and the unknown man in their group, remained upright.

"You guys have spirit," the King chuckled at them. He looked at Esmeralda. "Your father served me well. Even after his death."

"What...what do you mean?" Esmeralda stopped struggling and looked stunned at the King. But the King didn’t reply. He turned his gaze toward the man who Hex didn’t recognize.

"It’s a shame I have to use the firstborn of my firstborn as a sacrifice but Fate isn’t something we can control. Not yet anyways."

The young man frowned at the King but didn’t waste his breath on words. He seemed to weigh the risks but couldn’t come up with a solution for his predicament.

"And then there is your father," the King turned toward Briella. "He is a sharp sword to have but one with a double edge."

"He is a pain in the ass, isn’t he?" Briella chuckled at the King.

"He is," The King laughed. "But a pain I hope to eradicate tonight."

’The Commander is also on his way here?’ Hex understood the implication in the King’s words. Time was ticking. Things would go to shit quickly.

"It’s time, my liege," the woman in the middle said. The King nodded.

"Bring them up and bind them." The woman spoke and the guards moved. They pulled the prisoners and chained them to the smaller monoliths. But when they were about to chain Hex, the female powerhouse spoke up.

"He belongs on the main monolith."

The King looked surprised. "I thought we only captured two of the candidates, High Oracle."

"I thought so too. But I can’t perceive his strings of fate either. It seems we got lucky and caught one on the outskirts of civility."

Hex didn’t resist yet. The reason was simple. He could sense another group of humans nearby.