The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 325: Embrace of Darkness (2)

Chapter 325: Embrace of Darkness (2)

Darkness swarmed and engulfed everything in its path.

Hex watched the tendrils lick and wrap itself around the branches, leaves, and people.

The darkness reverted his transformation, forcing him into his human form. It was strange. For some reason, the darkness that inspired fear and unease in others, only desired to pull him into its embrace. It beckoned him, as if it had parted too long from it. Likewise, his body smiled in joy, fusing with the dense darkness around it.

Peering through the darkness, he observed Marcia, the Witchkin, first. To his surprise, the darkness didn’t only not impede his sight, it also enhanced it. He could see Marcia as if she was standing near her.

It seemed the clothes indeed were woven out of darkness. He could tell because it melded with its surroundings, revealing her form to him.

Marcia resembled Elize. Or perhaps it was the other way around. The gray streaks in her hair and the soft wrinkles around her eyes suggested Marcia’s age to be above that of Elize. However, having read the Knight Scrolls and having learned that the aging process decreases as one ascends the Stages, he wasn’t quick to form conclusions.

Marcia cackled with a sneer on her face as she eyed Elize, who struggled to keep the tendrils from wrapping around her. Despite her inability to keep the tendrils away, Elize didn’t look flustered nor annoyed.

On the other side, the Guardians continued to keep their shield up. Although they remained free from the darkness, it also acted as a prison, confining them in one place, and rendering them helpless to combat the woman in black.

For some reason, Marcia, like everyone else, didn’t pay him any heed. In fact, seeing the leader of the Guardians look in his general direction with a frown on his face, he had a strong feeling that others couldn’t see him.

This emboldened him to try to do something. If he was wrong, well, it couldn’t get worse than the current situation. But if he was right, he might be able to inflict an injury serious enough for her to drop her guard. That, hopefully, would free Elize up to counterattack.

Careful not to blow his cover, he moved toward Marcia. As he didn’t know whether the darkness only concealed his appearance or more, he advanced slowly. The darkness held the wind at bay, so he didn’t have to worry about being discovered through olfactory senses. And moving without making a sound was his speciality at this point.

While moving, Hex considered the options at his disposal. He went through all the Techniques and abilities. For some reason, the darkness didn’t like his transformation, so using that state to overpower the opponent, if such a thing was even possible considering Marcia’s strength, was out of the question.

’Perhaps I should use this,’ Hex thought as he gripped the crystal in his robe. It would create a huge explosion, putting even the likes of Elize and the Guardian’s leader at risk, but it was the best solution he could come up with.

While he sneaked up to Marcia, he heard her cackle and shout at Elize.

"Elize, you shouldn’t have come here. Or not tonight. At any other time I would have given you a chance to leave. But not tonight. I have planned too long for this. After tonight, Wrixia’s dogs won’t be able to hunt us as easily."

Hex glanced over his shoulder and noticed the leader flinch at her words. It seemed they arrived during an ongoing scheme of the Witchkin to trap the Guardians. But why? Surely, taking out a few would only attract more and perhaps greater forces.

"You plan to put them under a dark Hex, taking control over their souls?" Elize asked after a fraction of a second.

She guessed it right, judging from the startled expression appearing on Marcia’s face. Too bad, only he could see it. She tried to act nonchalant about it and cackled louder and more irritably.

"Oh Elize, always the smart one. Even when we were growing up, you understood more than everyone else, the grown up included," she sneered. "Did you come to stop me, cousin? Humor me please, what clues did we leave? After all, as far as Wrixians know, I died during that event years ago."

"The disappearances of girls, mostly young pairs of sisters, especially with one weaker than the other," Elize replied.

’Pair of sisters?’ Hex nearly stopped in his tracks. He had an inkling where this was going. He didn’t doubt the mental state of Marcia would push her to such actions but did she allow it? And was she still around to accept such offerings?

Hex felt his heart rate increase. He had to force it to calm down. His mind and heart were once again out of sync. Everytime it involved the Witch, his mind would whisper to kill or destroy her but his heart would scream in joy.

"And here I thought by allowing those tramps to abduct a few girls here and there would allow me to mask my trail. Then again, it’s difficult to guard against your sharp eyes, cousin."

Marcia spoke as if she could care little but her frown revealed she didn’t like it one bit that Elize had seen through her schemes. Hex was very close to her. A little more and he could utilize his plan. He moved slowly though, catching himself in trying to stretch the time as much as possible to learn much more about the Witch.

"You didn’t make it difficult, little cousin. Once I noticed the trend of missing girls, it was easy to infer that it had to be someone who knew Medina and the Saintess well. That limited the group of suspects considerably. Plus, from out of that group, you were enamored by Medina’s ways from the moment you met her."

Hex stared at Marcia. She had known the Witch. But...so Elize did as well?

"Well, you were the one who uncovered her existence, didn’t you? And you were the one who included her in our little group. But when things went bad, you and your little Saintess betrayed her. You, elder sister, didn’t even have mercy with me."

Marcia’s face contorted with pain and rage. She forcefully wiped her eyes, using the darkness as a sleeve.

"We have wasted enough time. It’s time to proceed."

"You really think sacrificing those girls will attract the remnant fragments of Medina’s soul lingering inside the village? You think it will help with controlling these people?"

"HOW–"

Marcia failed to keep her voice down this time. She didn’t expect her schemes to be seen through to such a level by Elize. She stared in shock and panic at Elize. For the first time, she seemed to realize that a person who saw through her to such a level, wouldn’t have come without a plan to stop her.

Hex realized at once what Elize’s weapon against Marcia was. It was him. She had brought him to stop Marcia, while allowing him to learn a little more about his mother. Even if she hadn’t inferred that the Witch was his mother, she knew they were related. And somehow, she had known that he would be able to move inside the darkness as if he was darkness itself.

"Stopping you is easy if one knows that the core of your power resides inside the village. The crystal of darkness will reveal itself once the sacrificial ritual starts. As long as one manages to snatch it, the darkness will recede, revealing your true self. I doubt you can survive outside this darkness, Marcia."

"Y-You...how...it doesn’t matter. You won’t be able to snatch the crystal," Marcia shouted, enraged and genuinely scared of Elize.

"You are right," Elize said, with a soft smile. "I won’t be able to pull it off."

’I have to pull it off,’ Hex said in his mind. He knew everything Elize had talked about and mentioned were for his benefit. To allow him to know enough to counter Marcia. He didn’t need to attack Marcia right now. It wouldn’t help.

To defeat Marcia, he needed to get the crystal and push Marcia out of the village. Only that way would they be able to defeat her. Any other way would fail. Or else, Elize wouldn’t have brought him here.

Hex turned and left toward the village. The solution lay there.