The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 334: A peculiar change

Chapter 334: A peculiar change

Not one parasitized.

That was the conclusion Hex reached when he finished his night visits, entering and inspecting each remaining member of the Witchkin. Aside from the one with Cyantha and her mother, of course.

When the first couple of visits failed to produce new clues, he felt elated. After all, the less people were turned into host bodies, the less victims he had to worry about. But when even the last person he visited seemed clean, he knew something didn’t add up.

His attacker had a shadow serpent-like creature inside her. That was a fact. He didn’t doubt that for a second. But he was equally convinced about the accuracy of his inspection.

’If both things are equally true then I can think only of three possibilities. One, everything was a coincidence. She just happened to be hosting a Shadow Serpent and lost her mind for some reason. Two, this variant of the Serpent isn’t a group creature and hunts alone. Three, something far more sinister is playing behind the scenes.’

Hex exited the last room, melding in the darkness spread across the corridor. ’At least none of these people are acting as hosts of the Shadow Serpents,’ Hex consoled himself as he moved through the darkness.

A deep silence hung in the corridor. He reached the beginning of the corridor rather quickly. The stairs were in his sight. But so was the room in which Cyantha and her mother stayed. He leaned against the wall, making sure to remain in the shadows on the floor.

’Should I enter, wait, or abort for now?’ Hex contemplated his choices.

Entering risked alerting the guard on duty. Through the massive door, he sensed the presence of a third person inside. His Blessing, the Veil of Death, granted him the ability to hide his presence from everyone. But it didn’t grant him the ability to phase through solid walls or doors. He knew. He had tried.

Waiting might create a chance he could benefit from. He didn’t mind the wait. Patience was ingrained in his core from the early days of scavenging through the mountains. The greatest downside of waiting was the possibility of ending up empty-handed despite waiting long hours.

’Should I just abort?’ It was the choice that made the most sense. During their escort, there would be plenty of opportunities to get close to the mother. At the very least, through the close proximity, he could keep an eye out for clues and perhaps leads that could be explored to uncover the person behind his attack. Even if the Shadow Serpent that attacked him turned out to be a solitary figure, he didn’t believe for a second that there wasn’t a mastermind behind the attack. But who?

Just as he was about to leave the confines of the shadows to use the stairs, the shadows around the stairs sprang to life. It swayed and rose above the ground, startling Hex. His preparations involved the ability failing, someone waking up, or running into the Guardians. Not once did he consider shadows warping and creating a dark door at the top of the stairs.

The door manifested itself within a second before his eyes. With a click, he heard the door open, causing him to remain inside the shadows of the corridor. He pulled the scarf around his head tighter and adjusted the gauze before his eyes. Without the Morphuse Box, his ability to morph became quite limited, forcing him to use alternatives to hide his much-feared black hairs and black eyes.

’Him?’

Seeing Jonathan step out of the shadow door, Hex furrowed his brows. Throughout the day the Guardian hadn’t shown any interest in any of the captives. His entire demeanor had been of someone just doing his job because it was required, not because of his own will.

’Shadows, huh? Is that the reason he was chosen?’

Shadows were a subset of darkness. Seeing him use it, Hex believed he uncovered the reason behind the choice of sending Jonathan for an escort mission. As they believed Hex to be the one to have dispelled the darkness cladding the village, the upper levels of the Guardians hoped someone with a related affinity would have the ability to look into him.

He waited curiously for Jonathan to pass him. This was the moment. It would reveal whether someone at the Enlightened Knight Stage could detect him or not when his Veil of Death concealed him. But Jonathan’s expression remained the same as he passed him and opened the door to enter Cyantha’s room.

"Sir, why are you h–?"

Through the gap in the still-closing door, he heard the person inside ask. The guardian seemed equally surprised by Jonathan’s visit.

"Gary, could you give me some time with these people? I wish to do another round of investigation."

"But the Boss did–"

"I know," Jonathan interrupted calmly. "I don’t doubt that Marve investigated everything to his best ability but in this case, I think my...special abilities would be more useful, don’t you agree?"

The door closed. Hex strained his ears but only heard a few muffled sentences. It was hard to follow but it seemed Gary didn’t protest a lot and agreed quickly to satisfy Jonathan’s request. As soon as he heard that, Hex readied himself.

’This is my chance.’

The door opened, and a man Hex had seen in Marve’s group, came out. He left the door to close on its own as he left for the stairs.

Through the gap, Hex noticed the dark shadows of the walls overseeing the inner floor and slipped through the gap, melding with the shadow in the room.

Jonathan stood with his back to him, bowed over the mother first. A small moonstone hovered in the air, just above the bed of the mother. Its soft light didn’t hinder Hex. On the contrary, due to the light, the shadows towards the walls and furniture deepened and elongated. Unwilling to lose such an opportunity to observe the Guardians from up close, he jumped through the shadows and stood close to the bed. He chose a spot that would remain unaffected even if the source of light changed its position.

Dark elements swirled around Jonathan’s hand as he held it above her head, without actually touching her head. He watched the woman squirm and groan because of whatever he was doing to her, but he didn’t flinch or blink. Not even once. He continued to send his dark elements into her body. Her groans increased, turning into soft cries. But he continued. Her squirms turned into jolts as her body convulsed and contorted. But he continued.

Hex didn’t interrupt him. For one, he didn’t understand what he was doing. And two, despite pitying the woman, he suspected her to be the host of a Shadow Serpent. It could be something that either revealed it or healed her. Hopefully, both.

Sadly, even after ten or so minutes, nothing occurred. The only thing that changed was that the woman’s skin seemed a little dryer and her energy seemed to have depleted considerably.

Hex thought the man failed but the satisfied grin on his face spoke a different tale. Once Jonathan finished with the mother, he shifted toward Cyantha. However, he didn’t do a lot with her. He only observed her and once he tried to fuse the darkness element into her, the elements seemed blocked by the skin and bounced back.

Hex couldn’t make head or tail of the situation, but the frown on Jonathan’s face suggested that neither could he. After some observations and inspections, Jonathan pulled a few syringes and small containers, tapping blood from both mother and daughter and left the room once he seemed satisfied with the quantity gathered.

’What was that all about?’

Eager to check whether he could gather clues, Hex approached the bed with the mother in it. She looked and felt weak. Her life energy seemed close to nihil. And it was decreasing!

’Is she dying? Now?’

Hex hurried and placed his hands on her forehead, channeling the nature elements found in the air. His heartbeat increased, thumping audibly against his chest, as he tried to push as much as he could inside her. But instead of stabilizing or improving, her condition worsened.

"She won’t make it," he mumbled, trying to halt the worsening.

"You will kill her."

With a start he turned his gaze, causing him to stand face-to-face with Cyantha. However, instead of dread or timidness, cold and calm eyes were staring back at him.

"Move."

She shoved Hex aside and started to move her hands across certain points of her mother’s body.

"Nature elements?"

Hex blurted as he sensed the finely-refined energy funnel into the woman. At once, her condition stopped worsening.

Only then did Hex realize something peculiar. He couldn’t sense the girl anymore.