The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 231: The other teams (2)

Chapter 231: The other teams (2)

"Do you have the bigger set of those tools with you?"

Hex stood close to Sterling and asked, suppressing his voice so only Sterling could hear him. The old man disappeared as soon as he destroyed the Disasters near them. And the others were already on the move, lending support and mounting their own assault. But Hex didn’t take any chances.

To his disappointment, Sterling shook his head. "The bigger versions are a pain to carry. Plus, we have the biggest ones mounted on the flying ship." He pointed at the hovering construct in the air.

"What do you think? It’s magnificent, no?"

He looked rather smug about but Hex let it slide. There were more important things to focus on and...it was indeed magnificent.

"Ow well. I will be on my way then. I left the set in a safe house." Hex shrugged. Leaving the fight to retrieve tools wasn’t the optimal strategy. But with how things escalated in a few minutes, he rather have them.

"I have the little one. You can keep one." Sterling threw one of the tools that could be used at close range and didn’t require any preparation to use.

"Thanks. But I need the bigger version. I will be back soon."

Before Sterling could reply, Hex jogged through the debris toward the gates. Initially, his plan was simple. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, he would throw himself at a monolith and activate it. He was certain it would cause some chaos, which he would use to slip away.

The plan wasn’t perfect and rested on a lot of ifs. But it was the best he could come up with. Of course, if he didn’t include the option to flee without doing a thing.

But with the changes, the information, and the things he witnessed, he doubted fleeing would help. Yes, he might not be exposed or in a direct line of danger, but the danger would remain. Worse, by fleeing, his chances to survive would dwindle.

Even now, with all the Disasters surging toward the Temple, he stood a good chance to flee. Perhaps he could use the underground channel and flee the ruin. Hex considered all these options too. And he dismissed them all.

There was a thin line between caution and cowardice. But Hex learned a lot as a scavenger. If you fled a dangerous place, you lost the chance to explore that place again. Usually, two things could happen. Either your fear grew or someone else explored it before you gathered your guts.

The first was bad but the second was worse. A growing fear would make you quit or force you to overcome it.

But if someone else conquered your place of fear, it would leave you with regret, uncertainty, and the seed of inferiority.

Hex suffered once from inferiority. He didn’t feel inferior to the baron. He didn’t feel inferior to the elites. Heck, he didn’t feel inferior to Heaven itself. He did feel inferior to an old decrepit alcoholic man with a single tooth in his mouth. The man killed a big rat. A rat that almost chewed Hex’s face off. It took a lot of time to overcome that feeling of not being good. Hex never wished to experience something like that again.

’The gates are open and no soldiers are in sight. The house isn’t far.’

Hex rushed past the gates. He left the tools in the house he used to sleep. He would retrieve them and leave.

Time was ticking. He looked up to the sky. Blazing balls of fire filled the space above the ruin. Even though they were still more than tens of meters off the ground, Hex felt the extreme heat they radiated.

But before he could worry about the damage they could inflict, the balls of fires were engulfed by even bigger spheres of water. The air filled with the sound of sizzles and the water turned to steam.

But as the steam thinned, Hex saw that the balls were extinguished. The balls didn’t disappear. They looked like clusters of rocks. Hex followed them as they flew through the air. Their trajectory seemed to be toward the Temple. Hex ducked as soon as the extinguished rocks disappeared behind the high walls.

Hex felt the tremors even at some distance from the Temple. It made him only fasten his pace to the house.

’There. I just grab them and be —.’

Hex was about to rush into the building to get his stuff before it collapsed. A massive explosion sent a shockwave through the air. The impact was so great the ground burst open in places. The path Hex followed to reach the building broke into pieces.

The broken pieces hit Hex hard. He groaned as he lay on the ground. Luckily, he wrapped the cloak in time around him. He didn’t suffer any lasting injury but it still wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

’What the heck was that? It didn’t come from the Tempe!’

Hex pushed the rubble aside and climbed out. It wasn’t easy, even with his physical powers. A quick look at his surroundings revealed a thick column of smoke coming from the southern side of the noble district.

’What is happening there?’

The core area of the battle was the Temple. All the forces were concentrated there. The royals even managed to lure the Disasters over there. So, who was at the other end? And why?

’There or there?’

Hex felt conflicted. One one hand he wished to regroup with the rest and destroy whatever ploy the royals were hatching. On the other hand, leaving an unknown force unchecked could backfire.

’Shit.’ Hex cursed as he went back into the rubble. After some search, he found the tools and slung them over his shoulder.

He took another look in the direction of the Temple. The massive outline of phantoms lit up the sky and continued to send shockwaves around. Aside from the massive figure of the Duke, he saw huge spheres of flames and even bigger bubbles of water going around.

’I hope I can make it in time.’

He exhaled and turned toward the south. He didn’t take the paths on the ground. Using Flex Step, he rushed in a straight line toward the wall. It was risky but time was of essence.

’The King is still silent.’

...

"It seems the Divine Lord was right. Sir Elron’s skills and Miss Ella’s resources can even avert a Calamity."

The Stellar Shield showed a rare instant of admiration on his face. The missing wall and the splattered corpse of a humanoid Heartless weren’t something he could combine. Not even if he ascended to the next stage.

"Thank you, Mister Templar. But I always knew how great I am."

Eron guffawed while Ella ignored him. She stepped through the gap in the wall.

"Let’s hurry. We need to find the Witch’s grimoire before the others notice us."