The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 323: The other group

Chapter 323: The other group

Frost Dragon – Blizzard Strike

Hex covered his fist with a layer of frost and intercepted the fist coming at them. The clash blasted the air out.

The gang led by the lanky man had no time to prepare. Some coughed blood while others fainted due to the change in air pressure.

Hex hadn’t let the petite build of his opponent drop his guard. The fact that he couldn’t sense the man’s presence revealed a lot about the level of threat the man posed to him.

Contrary to taking it lightly, he went all out. The branch below him was covered immediately in a layer of ice. The sub branches and leaves stood frozen due to his blizzard strike.

Even then, the strength hidden in the man’s thin arms shoved him backward. Hex looked up in shock. Despite expecting the man to be a powerhouse, he was surprised. His opponent had relied on pure physical power to outmatch him. No other human had been able to do so, not as far as he knew off.

Even those a stage above him couldn’t compare to him. Not as long as they were human. The man had done it. And he was human. Hex didn’t doubt as much.

His opponent only raised a brow in response to a Refined Knight withstanding his punch. He didn’t ask or say anything. He didn’t glance at those who had fallen. He didn’t even give Hex more than a glance. Elize, who stood behind Hex, drew most of his attention.

Elize didn’t make any move. She stood there as if the battle didn’t concern her. Perhaps, Hex realized, it really didn’t. She did say she wouldn’t meddle or reveal her identity to others.

The petite man didn’t know any of this. But he realized he would face someone his equal. And his gaze changed. Although he didn’t underestimate Hex earlier, now, he looked at him as if he was a threat.

A sense of dread gripped Hex’s heart. He wasn’t cowering. It was just a feeling a person got when facing a terrifying predator.

Knowing he wouldn’t be able to face the Guardian, Hex went to the extreme.

Growl.

The next instance he transformed. Seeing the young man turn into a towering Ice Bear with furry wings didn’t stop the man from attacking.

Hex faced the attack head on with raised paws. The difference in size helped to take the brunt of the attack, but barely. He felt his innards churn. His opponent had yet to fuse energy into his punch, but Hex felt his body already groaning in pain.

He roared, Ice swirlin all around them. The slippery ground didn’t disturb his opponent’s balance. Neither did the Ice shields break off the power in his punches and kicks.

It had been long since Hex felt like a punching bag for someone. He wasn’t out of moves or chances. But he couldn’t connect his attacks. Unlike the immense strength that didn’t make sense, the man possessed incredible speed and flexibility, which did match his slim build.

Frustrated, Hex nearly requested help from Elize. After all, how could he defeat a man with incredible strength and speed?

As he was about to call her, even at risk of drawing her ire by exposing her identity, a thought struck him.

What if...the man only had natural speed? Or strength? How could an Enlightened Knight not use any energy, not even when he decided to finish his opponent quickly.

There was only one way to test it out. One way, he knew of.

Second Blessing – Energy Burst

He gathered his energy from out of his heart, concentrated and condensed in his throat, and roared at the advancing opponent.

His opponent, shocked and unprepared, took the brunt of the roar with only a grimace. A roar wouldn’t stop him. He pierced through the noise and hit Hex.

Hex shot back, cleaving the air. He hit another rising branch, causing it to shudder and shed its leaves. Hex shook his head and rose to his feet. The punch hurt. A lot. Yet not as much as it should have.

His conjecture was right. He didn’t know, but his opponent had fused his energy with his flesh, imbuing it with an incredible amount of energy.

The blast of chaos energy had disturbed the energy distribution, weakening the strength to a level where it only stung instead of knocking his head off his shoulders.

But that was not all he achieved by unleashing such an amount of chaos energy. He also created an opportunity.

Blink Step

Hex appeared behind his opponent. An Enlightened Knight could easily spot and intercept such spatial moves. But his opponent didn’t. Whether it was due to the surprise element of Hex suddenly appearing behind him or the shock element of feeling his body act abnormally, remained a mystery.

Frost Dragon – Tailwhip

With a twist of his hip, Hex unleashed an Ice Spike, hitting the petite man in the back. The attack connected.

The man spat blood as the attack pierced into his back. Sadly, it didn’t go all the way through. The pain jolted the man out of his thoughts.

He broke the spike and moved away from Hex’s attack. Hex only managed to graze him with his paws.

"Boss!"

A shout came from the other side. Hex looked over his shoulders and noticed three others rush over. Most likely, they were the subordinates of his opponent and those who he had sensed leaving the hotel.

All three seemed capable and would slow him down, if not overwhelm him. At any other time, he wouldn’t fret about facing them at once. But not now. Even the slightest obstacle would put his life at risk.

...

At the other side of the darkness, Jade and Cyantha strained their ears, listening to the noise from the other side, while glancing at each other in fear and shock.

The battle on the other side had caused the Colorless Tramps to frown and almost flee. They claimed to be in charge but refrained from open clashes. The leader left one behind and took the others to check the situation on the other side.

These parts were usually abandoned. They knew some other people gathered in these parts but Jade had studied their patterns. She didn’t expect people to be present tonight. And certainly not many, which by the sound of the noise, seemed to be the case.

"What should we do?"

Jade hesitated, which showed, after all she was not one to ask such questions. She glanced at the man left behind to watch over them. The old man, looking malnourished, trembled and seemed more nervous than them. He wouldn’t be enough to hold them back.

"Perhaps...," Cyantha said, hesitating and glancing at the bushes of leaves behind him, "perhaps, we should leave."

Although they didn’t think the man paid any attention to them, they didn’t talk out loud. They didn’t even whisper. It was softer, almost like they were mouthing the words to each other.

Jade, who didn’t notice the hesitation in Cyantha’s behavior, nodded. Brave as she was, she didn’t dare to continue. There were two types of people inside the city. Discovered by either type wouldn’t be pleasant.

One type would drag them to be judged by the legal authorities. The fine alone would end their lives by pushing them into forced labor.

The other type, like the Colorless Tramps, would drag them to either sell or force into labor. Or both. She had heard stories about the fates of such people. She didn’t want to end up as one of those youngsters.

She turned to leave when she heard the leaves shudder. Cyantha looked panic-stricken. She froze in place. Jade assumed her friend was gripped by fear and held her hand.

The old man looking after them, swirled and gulped. He was trembling. From who knows where he still found the strength to throw a question.

"W-W-Who i-ss the-there?"

As if to answer him, the leaves parted and another group appeared. They wore black robes and tied their heads in black threads of clothes.

The group wasn’t large. Nor did they seem as scary as the Colorless Tramps. Actually, the entire group consisted of women and girls. All were beautiful and poised.

But the moment they appeared, the old man at the front shrieked and threw himself off the branch. The color drained from Jade’s face too. She, like the old man, recognized the group. Not the people, but their attire. Everyone in the City of Changing Colors haad heard about them.

The Witchkin.