The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 335: An impossible meeting

Chapter 335: An impossible meeting

She stood there. She pressed her hand on the abdomen of her mother, whose breath continued to weaken. In just a few seconds after that, the mother’s breath disappeared. But Cyantha didn’t remove her hand. Just a second after that, the mother’s body jerked, jolting her whole body. With a loud, hollow gasp, the mother’s eyes opened wide. Then she fell back on the pillow, caught by Cyantha’s hand to prevent her head from bouncing off. Her eyes, perhaps due to weakness, slowly closed and she lay there...asleep. Yes, asleep, judging from the slow but steady heartbeat.

Hex watched everything occur without interrupting the girl despite the storm of questions brewing in his mind. The questions ranged from how he could see her yet not sense her to why the mother seemed to be dying after Jonathan’s visit. He didn’t doubt for a second that the Enlightened Knight’s visit worsened the state of Cyantha’s mother. But the biggest question he just wanted to shout at the girl was how she could use the nature element and that too at a level he had never seen before. And he had seen Dryads work their magic, people specially trained by Wrixia in the ways of healing. And yet none of those Dryads, wonderful as they were, could compare to this girl close to his age.

Cyantha seemed to finish up based on her action of tucking in her mother. Just as he thought she was done, she grasped the chin of her mother and pried her mouth open. Using one hand, she kept it open and stuck her finger inside.

Hex couldn’t see what she was doing but sensed the nature element stir and pour inside the mother in greater quantities. The mother squirmed a little and then relaxed. Cyantha pulled her finger out slowly. Following her finger, he saw a sticky, viscous thread of black liquid.

"Is that...?" Hex asked, realizing something.

"A Shadow Serpent?" Cyantha completed his question as she gathered the black thread in the palm of her hand. "It certainly looks like one but there are minute differences with the ones I remember. This is less natural. It had been tampered with."

The way she talked and her fascination with the creature seemed weird to Hex. Granted, he knew nothing about her but she left an impression on him. The girl’s soft heart, determination to do the right thing even at the cost of her life, and love for her close ones created an image in his mind that didn’t include the detachment and maturity she was revealing at the moment.

At the same time, the things she said caught his attention.

’She knows about Shadow Serpents, she knows how to deal with them, and she could tell with a glance that these differed from others. She seems less like a girl and more like a woman–’

Hex looked in shock at her, as he realized something. It added up...to a certain level.

"Who are you? You aren’t Cyantha."

She was possessed. It sounded like a stretch of his imagination but it was the only thing that seemed to explain her behavior.

Cyantha, or whoever was before him, finally stopped marveling at the blob of darkness in her hand and looked at him. A soft smile tugged at her lips as she gave him a look over.

"So, do you have a brain inside that thick skull of yours? Took you long enough to realize something so basic."

Her admission of her being someone else didn’t put Hex at ease.

"You wanted me to find out?"

Her nonchalance about him discovering her seemed to indicate it.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It’s been a while since I saw someone use the Veil of Death, and that too in such a crude way that I had to meet you myself."

’The Veil.’

To his surprise, Hex forgot he had been under the Veil. A glance at the back of his hand revealed the dark vapor around the markings. It was still in effect. Yet, she could sense him!

"How can you see through it then?"

Cyantha smiled. Without a reply, she looked back to the black liquid in her palm.

Hex sensed a burst of nature elements in her hand, following which the black liquid caught fire. The green flames sprang to life and seemed eager to devour the liquid.

"Wait! Stop that. We need to examine it." Hex made a motion to grab it from her.

But the otherwise frail body of the girl outmatched him. She moved at a speed that blurred her from his sight.

"Don’t touch it, idiot," she admonished him, standing behind him while he was still retracting his arm, having failed to grab her.

"This thing will leave traces on your body. That guy left it here, expecting someone to interfere, leaving traces on their body. And he would use that as a reference point to determine quite a few things about your body and Blessings."

’She is fast.’ That was the first thing he thought of. ’A god or someone else? She is good with nature elements, knows the Veil of Death, to a level she can see through it, understands Shadow Serpents and dark elements...’

It should be impossible. Even more than a god possessing the girl. But his mind conjured an image of someone he believed stood before him. It took root in his mind and heart.

There was but one way to test it.

He turned toward her with his breath caught in his throat.

Cyantha, or she...was smiling. Seeing Hex’s widened eyes, she raised her brows.

Hex didn’t say a word. With trembling hands, he pulled his gauze from his face. Once removed, he raised his head and met her gaze with his dark eyes.

The smile on her face disappeared and her eyes turned serious.

Neither spoke a word. Both waited. Hex was unwrapping the scarf around his head. Neither looked away from each other.

Once the scarf loosened, Hex yanked it off his head, and his head full of black hair stood free.

Cyantha, or she...jolted.

"H-How do...you have those eyes...and that hair?"

Hex stared at her trembling mouth and transfixed gaze before replying.

"I got it from you, mother."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.