The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 352: The Lava Bat

Chapter 352: The Lava Bat

"Argh. That hurts. Alot."

Hex scrambled out of a spatial tunnel that collapsed right behind him. Blood seeped out of his mouth. Scabs formed over the rest of his body though. Part of his hair had disappeared. And his skin was torn, hanging loosely over his chest.

He winced and groaned as he fell onto the ground, with the dried-up mud pressing right into the mangled flesh on his back.

His empty lungs begged for air, forcing him to take a deep breath. But the sudden intake of air burnt his throat.

Cough.

He burst out in a fit of coughs, spitting phlegm and clotted blood. In the mixture of those, he noticed a few bits and pieces.

’Are those...my lungs?’

It seemed absurd. But the burning pain inside his chest and the concentration of nature elements indicated it to be a fact.

Despite the burning pain, Hex remained on his back. A soft grin appeared on his lips. That had been close. Very close.

He had not suffered not even an iota of this against the Calamity. His mother had been right. No matter how great a genius he was, or the amount of luck he had, true mastery over an element couldn’t be achieved without experiencing all the aspects of a particular element.

The battle against the Calamity forced him to understand space itself, how it behaved, how to use it, and how to fuse it with his attacks. But no matter how great experiencing the advantages of space was, nothing could beat experiencing the dangers of shattering layers and collapsing spaces.

He nearly lost his life. And it wasn’t exaggerated. He who survived against Heavens, Taboos, Sins, and many others, had to scamper away and struggle to save himself against space. It highlighted the dangers it held.

The air entering his airways filled him with agony but at the same time, the thick concentration of nature elements mixed within it, increased the speed his body was recovering.

While gritting through the pain, he turned his head sideways, inspecting the state the corpse was in. It didn’t escape without being damaged. Luckily, the damage was limited to a missing limb and multiple tears.

Seeing the corpse, he was reminded of the three beasts he had stored inside his robes. With a start, he sat up. His body ached. Taking deep breaths in and out, he tolerated the pain as he inspected his robes.

’The frost has melted a little but the Ice containers didn’t break.’

It was a relief. The appearance of three of these little serpent-like creatures filled him with unease.

They reminded him of the Shadow Serpents he encountered in the past. Granted, these were smaller, and their parasitic effect on their host seemed negligible – the Calamity had seemed fit and strong, without physical problems – yet their masked presence inside the Calamity’s body reminded him of them.

Crunch.

A burnt twig snapped into pieces.

Hearing the sound, Hex jumped to his feet, ready to fight. His body screamed in pain but chaotic energy flowed to his heart.

"What happened here?!"

From behind the wisps of smoke a figure appeared, frowning at the sight before him. The destruction of the alternate space had caused the corpses to be strewn all over the place.

Hex recognized Jonathan as soon as his figure emerged and hearing his voice only convinced him more.

"That...happened."

He pointed at the creature’s corpse. He didn’t explain further, waiting to observe Jonathan’s expression.

Sadly, aside from the frown already present, no other expression appeared on the man’s face. It had to be expected, Hex realized. No matter how casual the man acted, in the end he was an Enlightened Stage Knight. No one reached such height without gaining the ability to control their emotions and expressions.

"A Lava Bat?" Jonathan asked with a raised brow. He walked up to the creature and inspected the body without touching it. Hex narrowed his eyes but turned normal before Jonathan could notice it.

"I have no idea. It’s the first time I am encountering such a creature," Hex replied in all honesty.

"These aren’t found anywhere else. They are bats living generation after generation inside caves situated inside volcanoes. Through the Ages they have adapted and morphed into such creatures." Jonathan accepted Hex’s reasoning with a nod. By the sound of it, these creatures were rare and lived only in one location.

"Are there volcanoes nearby?"

If he could trace the volcanoes, he might discover more clues. If needed. There was already a lot to do. He wouldn’t risk a detour for limited gains.

Jonathan glanced at him with a sigh.

"No. There aren’t. The closest volcano is a hundred kilometers from here and these bats never travel beyond the range of the volcanoes. Their affinity to Lava, basically a fusion of Earth and Fire, is beyond anything a human is possible."

Jonathan looked at Hex, giving him a look-over. "They are extremely hard to kill. You managed it, that’s a feat in itself."

"Are there some among their ranks that could use multiple elements?" Hex asked, trying his best to sound curious without revealing his role in its death. He even ignored his remark.

"Other elements?" Jonathan nearly sniggered. "Even among humans there are seldom people who could use more than one element. You think a bat could outdo humans in that aspect?" Jonathan smiled at him but quickly stopped doing so. "Why? Did you do something else?"

"You think I would tell you, if I happened to see something?" Hex countered with a snigger. "Don’t worry. It was just something I was curious about."

Jonathan went back to studying the corpse.

"Where are the others? Have the enemies outsmarted and outplayed them?"

"They are still there where you left them. With Elize guarding them not even a Devil might hurt her."

"What about the attackers?" Hex asked. He hadn’t forgotten about them. But like Jonathan he knew nothing would threaten Elize.

"The attackers aren’t around. I suspect a trap, triggered by our presence." Jonathan replied. His voice had softened quite a bit. He was looking at the face of a youth lying not far behind him. The young man had been part of his Team Two. Although Jonathan remained calm, Hex noticed the trembling hands of the Enlightened Knight.

Hex only nodded, leaving the man with his thoughts.