Facing a Knight (1)

Seeing the stance of the old man in front of him, the guard captain chuckled. A cold glint appeared in his eyes. 

"Admirable. Pity you are so stubborn."

As soon as he said that, the robed figures jumped. 

"Retreat!" 

Hex hollered at the other people from the slum as he jumped over them. There was nothing he could do for them besides fighting with everything he had. 

The others from the slums were shocked but that didn't hinder their retreat. The captain called them slum rats but people like them were more like cockroaches. Tenacious and prone to survive.

Some looked at the old couple with shock. A second ago Old George could barely stand but now she was flying up the wall?

Hex and Althea split up. Hex jumped to the front, she to the back. There had been no discussion. It wasn't needed. Both knew it was about either killing them or being killed by them. 

Althea was closer to the wall behind them. She scaled it so fast that others mistook it for flying. 

Within a blink she reached the robed figure descending. The figure held a polearm. Seeing Althea rush toward him, he thrust it downward.

Althea, disguised as a frail old woman, pushed her feet against the wall and landed on top of the tip of the polearm.

She used the tip as a step, turned in the air, kicking him straight in his chin. Blood spurted out his nose. Landing back on the polearm, Althea grabbed the hilt and pulled it free from her attacker.

The next moment, the polearm pierced through his chest.

All this happened seamlessly within a blink. Before the figure's body hit the ground, Althea was already running towards another opponent.

On the other side, Hex reached his first opponent. The figure was armed with a mace. His huge frame made the long robe look like a shirt on him.

The figure didn't give Hex a chance to close in on him. As soon as the distance decreased, he jumped toward Hex, swinging his mace.

Bam!

The rocky ground shattered, sending dirt and rock flying. But Hex had managed to evade it, by jumping up.

Without any delay, Hex performed a second step in the air and moved toward the robed figure.

'You wish to use brute strength? Me too!' With a sneer on his face, Hex clenched his fist.

Bam!

His punch landed squarely on the person's jaws. Blood and teeth splattered. The person groaned. His hood slid back, revealing a mature person with massive jawlines. Only, part of it hung open now, with teeth missing and blood dripping.

The person's eyes looked lost. Hex's physical strength was already at the peak of what a Squire could have. Even the massive body of the opponent wasn't enough to absorb Hex's power.

'You are strong to survive but what about a second punch?' His opponent was truly strong. The punch would have killed most other Squires.

The third step in the air followed. His opponent was barely holding on. Hex used this to connect the second punch.

Blood, teeth, and bones flew out. The punch destroyed half of the figure's skull. Hex was like a bear thrashing around. Leaving the lifeless body behind, Hex picked the mace up.

'Wow. This thing easily weighs about a hundred and fifty kilograms.' Hex marveled at the weight of the mace but it didn't bother him. In fact, he finally understood what his sword was missing.

'My sword is strong but too light. It's like I am using a stick.' 

Although he was thinking such things, he didn't stop. There were too many opponents. He didn't fear them but he knew they were all fodder. The real opponent stood high and mighty, looking calmly at them.

The deaths of a couple of figures didn't even seem to faze him. 

Hex ignored him for now. Both he and Althea were facing multiple figures at the same time. 

Thankfully, with the mace, he was able to kill or at least incapacitate opponents with one hit. 

More figures descended the walls. But now they were not only humanoid. There were many beasts too. Hex saw some were missing part of their stomach or even face. Yet, they were moving and about to attack.

Hex fought like a maniac. Letting all pretext go, he even activated his Blessing. 

Just as finished killing a group of attackers, a shadow loomed over him. He turned but the attack was already close.

"Fuck you!"

Just as the spear was about to hit Hex, a loud shout erupted from behind as the spear froze. 

The head of the opponent was caved in. A massive rock had smashed it in. Looking up, Hex saw the portly man wink at him and then scurry off.

'These morons of the slums…what a bunch of awesome fuckers!' Only now did Hex look around and see that those ten people from the slums didn't run off. 

They were hiding and sneaking around. They used rocks and weapons they found, to kill the enemy. Their strategy seemed to be relying on hit-and-run tactics. 

They didn't even wait to see whether the kill was secured or not. They were really like cockroaches. 

With their help, Hex and Althea managed to kill faster. The numbers dwindled. No more figures were descending. 

The slum people were cheering louder. Abuses and mockery echoed in the cave.

But Hex felt his heartbeat increase with each passing moment. He knew the hardest part was nearing.

Althea knew it too. Her spear danced wildly. There was no hesitation. Her strikes were like lightning. Each strike took an opponent down. 

Neither Hex nor she knew whether all the figures were resurrected or not. It didn't matter. There was no room for mercy.

Hex and she started to move toward each other. Their opponents followed them. Killing each other, they got closer. 

Their heart was in their mouth. They saw the resolve they had in each other's gaze. 

Soon there were three attackers left…then two…then one.

With a deep breath, both jumped at the final figure. Hex's mace smashed his skull open. Althea's spear tore him into two.

As their weapons landed, they looked into each other's eyes. With a nod, their eyes moved toward the knight. But there was no one there. Their eyes widened in shock.

"Looking for me?"

A calm voice asked from beside them, close enough that they felt his breath.

Bang! Bang!

Before Hex could react, he felt his body being rammed into. His eyes rolled inside, as he flew back. The force was far greater than he ever felt.

He landed on the ground, feeling his body in pain. Pain like he never felt before…and he had stabbed a sword inside him once!  This was somehow worse.

Coughing and spitting blood, he got up on his knees. He looked up and saw the guard captain. He stood there, looking calm and bored.

Althea was already on her feet but Hex saw the blood stains on her face. 

The slum people were all on the floor…still and silent.

Shing!

The Knight pulled his sword and looked to the front. He didn't even spare Hex and Althea a glance. 

"I don't know who you two are nor do I care. Unless you have something else to show, it's time for you to join us…alive or dead."