The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 360: The last laugh

Chapter 360: The last laugh

"That’s what mastery looks like."

Hex hovered in the air. Having witnessed Jonathan’s display of might, he finally understood the true meaning of mastery.

’The Earth elements obeyed his will as if they were nothing more than an extension of his existence.’

"Should we move along?"

Hearing Jonathan’s voice, Hex turned his gaze away from the lifeless eyes of the woman who had been the second in command of the Witchkin. She had been buried alive, with only her scalp and eyes still visible above the ground.

His gaze met Jonathan’s for a brief moment. Yet, he saw a lot in those eyes. Eyes that didn’t share the smile the rest of Jonathan’s face expressed.

’Cold. And emotionless.’

Those were the impressions he gained from them. It deepened the wariness Hex felt toward the man. Wariness he felt by intuition from the first time Hex met the man.

’Now isn’t the time.’

Hex buried his thoughts in his heart and followed behind Jonathan. The distance between them and the core of the battle area was short. They reached the vicinity of the coach in less than a minute.

"Let’s wait. She has things under control."

Jonathan halted just tens or so meters before the coach. Corpses of servants and members of the Elder’s escort team lay astrew.

Their cleanly dismembered seemed all too familiar to Hex. Not long ago, he had seen something similar. The Lava Bat had used Space shards to dismember Unit Two just like this.

Hex glanced toward Jonathan. His grim face, clenched jaw, and stiff posture, all indicated the man was nearing the limit of his tolerance.

Something brewed inside him. Hex sensed it. A tiny spark and the man would explode.

The battle between Elize and the woman in command of the Witchkin raged on. Elize, despite her lack of affinity with Space, she countered her opponent expertly.

Her opponent only remained in the battle so far because she knew to hide inside Darkness and Space. She used both.

Darkness, however, seemed to be the wrong choice. Light danced on the tips of Elize’s fingers.

Her light and she, both, bounced all over the place, tearing every piece of shadow and darkness apart.

Even with his enhanced senses and his affinities, it was hard to follow her movements and attacks.

’I was getting a little overconfident. The gap between people at the top and me is still extremely large.’

Hex observed everything with a heavy feeling in his heart. Some would argue that he was young. Or that he hadn’t been training for too long.

But all of that didn’t matter in Hex’s opinion. Age and experience weren’t considered in a battle.

Did Jonathan inquire about the other woman’s age? About her experience? Did Elize consider all that in her battle?

The answer was clearly no.

So, all those arguments were mere excuses to make oneself feel good. It had no practical value.

"What a shame." Hex heard Jonathan whisper. Looking at him, Hex noticed the man watching the battle with clear regret on his face.

’Is he the culprit or not?’

In all honesty, Hex believed him to be the one to have stolen the serpents and freed the two women. Jonathan was the only one with the means.

’Either his Guardians are in cahoots or he just used his Earth element mastery. Only, why?’

Having the means to do something didn’t automatically translate to actually doing it. Hex knew that. Unless someone was a complete madman, they also needed a motive to do something.

’He doesn’t strike me as a madman,’ Hex mused. Or he hadn’t seen through Jonathan’s facade.

"You bitch!" The scream came from the other side of the battle area. It pulled him out of his musings.

The darkness had been destroyed. Elize stood in the air, her wings flapped gently. She was surrounded by golden light, causing her appearance to gain an almost deific allure.

’That...wouldn’t be impossible, would it?’

Hex narrowed his eyes at the sight. He hadn’t forgotten that the baron’s power also appeared in golden colors.

He always believed it to be due to his own affinities. But not so long ago he learned that his master had refined a Divine Will.

It seemed to be related.

’Has she too refined a Divine Will?’

"Bitch? Me?" Elize looked down toward the attacker. Hex followed her gaze, only now focussing on the other woman.

"You lost yourself and your path, worshipping someone who destroyed without a care in the world. And then you call me a bitch?" Elize snarled at the attacker.

"I would rather be the Witch’s slave than Wrixia’s bitch," the attacking woman spat back.

Her words dripped with hatred against the entity called the oldest one. At least, that was what Hex assumed. It would be strange to hate an entire country. Or not.

The woman lay on the ground, riddled with injuries and burnt marks. Elize didn’t seem to have shown any mercy towards her.

’She seems aged. Her skin hangs loosely and her body feels weak.’ Hex ignored their back and forth name calling time. He observed the woman.

Having seen and faced her in the city of changing colors, he remembered some details exellantly. Her beauty and strength had waned too greatly to ignore.

Based on what he knew, she showed clear signs of overdraft and overfeeding the serpents.

"You think you have won, right?" Hex heard her chuckle. The sudden change in her voice, going from screaming to peaceful smiling, drew his attention immediately. Elize and Jonathan became wary too.

Their reactions differed, though. Jonathan took a battle stance, ready to combat anything that would come at him. Elize, however, flapped her wings and appeared outside the coach.

With a light tap she broke the door. She hadn’t intended it but the moment the door broke, the coach shattered and fell apart.

Sss

The sounds of hisses filled the air. Hex watched as several small Serpents slithered away from a corpse, trying to flee.

The corpse, which could only be described as a bag of skin and bones, didn’t radiate any signs of life or energy.

"Hahahaha." The Witchkin’s leader cackled, as her breath weakened further and her life seemed to be slipping away. "I won’t survive but neither will these perverted old bastards. This is the first one. Many more will follow. We...will be free!

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