Facing a Knight (2)

'I thought Knights were comparable to Fiends. But this guy feels like a Disaster!'

Hex cursed inwardly as he wiped the blood on his face. 

'This might really kill me,' Hex exhaled, afraid yet unwilling to give up.

Bam.

He didn't let fear constrict him. Hex pushed against the ground, shattering it.

Within a blink, he reached the Knight. His cloak of red light burnt intensely. Using the momentum of his push, he swung the mace at the Knight. 

The guard captain didn't flinch or move. The mace closed in. But just as the mace connected, a shield appeared. The impact bent and cracked the shield but didn't make it through. 

It only glowed brightly and recovered its original shape quickly.

On the other side, Althea too thrust her lightning-fast spear. The shield stretched and bent above the Knight, blocking the attack. Her attack did manage to put a hole in it but the shield recovered too quickly to follow through with another attack. 

Seeing their attacks fail, Hex and Althea jumped back. 

'This is too damn hard,' Hex cursed inwardly. 

The captain looked at them with a sneer on his face. "If that's all you can manage then it's better to end this quickly."

As soon as he was done speaking, he dashed toward Hex. With his sword drawn out, he attacked. 

Hex quickly put the mace in front of him. The impact of the sword threw him back. But the captain wasn't done. He followed through with a flip and hit again. 

This time the mace didn't manage to block. The sword evaded it and hit Hex from the side. But the cloak shielded him, if only barely.

The attack sent him flying to the side. The captain once again stepped against the ground and followed through. But he quickly stopped and moved aside. Althea struck, hitting the shield again.

'Too fast,' Hex groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. 

'His shield is too sturdy, his attacks too strong, and his speed too high.' He scratched his head, thinking fast about how to beat the Knight. 

He watched Althea exchange blows with the guard captain. It was hard but Althea managed to block and attack. 

'In terms of speed and strength I don't lose to Althea but why am I pushed around more?' After observing their clash for a while, he noticed the main difference. 

'There is no pause between their attacks. It's as if they attack without thinking,' Hex thought as realization struck him. 

The Knight and Althea fought using combos and patterns they were familiar with. They weren't using brain memory, no…they were using muscle memory. 

Believing his understanding was correct, he quickly started to think about his counter-attack. There wasn't enough time to flesh out every detail but Hex focused on his strongest attacks.

'Muscle memory depends on the moves I use the most. I only have a few moves to begin with,' Hex thought as he ran up to the two fighting. 

Having sparred frequently with Althea, Hex was familiar with her moves and techniques. He easily joined her, fighting against the Knight.

Their style complemented each other perfectly. Althea was refined, precise, and piercing. Hex was messy, unpredictable, and overwhelming. 

Hex kept putting dents and cracks into the captain's shield. Althea followed through, putting holes and bursts into it. 

Hex also acted as her shield. His cloak and his strong body could absorb a lot of damage. But even then he barely held on. The captain's attacks were too strong.

'I think I already have a few fractured ribs,' Hex thought wryly. The ordeals of the past showed their effect. He could retain consciousness while in pain. 

But seeing the blue light on the captain's hand burn brighter and brighter, kept them going. They knew the captain was expending more and more energy. 

It was almost a contest to see whose energy would run out faster. And if there was one thing Hex could count on, it was his energy reserves. 

The smirk on the captain's face was gone, replaced by a frown. He couldn't understand how neither of his opponents had fallen yet. 

He was clearly stronger than them. His techniques were better refined, his speed higher, and his elemental shield was supposed to block even Knight-grade attacks. 

But just as he decided to be more aggressive, the space around them trembled. It was faint but all three felt it.

They all stopped in their tracks. The Knight looked worried, Hex and Althea elated. 

"They are near," Hex shouted. He threw himself at the Knight. Time was of the essence. They needed to hold on. 

Hex didn't hold his energy back. He activated his second Blessing. Instead of cloaking the mace and himself when attacking, he focused all his energy on the mace. 

Bam!

The impact this time didn't stop at bending the shield. It caused huge web-like cracks. 

Boom!

Althea too didn't hold back. Her attacks hid the sound of thunder as she struck the damaged shield. The shield couldn't hold on. It shattered. 

Hex smiled seeing it. He jumped toward the Knight.

The space around them trembled harder than before. 

'They are almost through!' Hex thought, elated. 

"You guys are underestimating me too much!" The Knight growled. The light emitting from his right hand intensified. 

But instead of reforming, the splinters blasted out. 

The sudden change was so quick, that neither Hex nor Althea managed to put up a defense. The sharp edges of the splinters glinted menacingly. 

"AHHH!"

But just as the splinters could hit them, a few bodies jumped up, blocking them. The surviving slum people had been waiting for a chance. 

"Hit him!"

An elderly man shouted as he fell, bloodied by the splinters. Hex hadn't stopped by the sudden blast of the splinters. He performed a flex step, shortening the distance between him and the Knight. 

The blue light on the Knight's right hand flared up brighter and bigger than ever. Hex was hurrying over but knew he would not make it in time. The captain would have reformed his shield by then.

But then another shout sounded in the cave. 

"HEY FUCKER!"

Everyone's gaze went to the ridge above. Hex was stunned, seeing the portly man holding a sword up. With one swing, he beheaded Sloan, causing his head to tumble down the wall. After bouncing against the wall, it finally landed on the floor, in front of the captain.

"NOOO!"

The captain watched horrified at how his son was beheaded. His scream revealed his pain, his misery, and the love he held for Sloan. But it was too late. 

Seeing the captain drop his defenses, Hex performed the third step. He poured all his energy into the mace. 

As soon as he reached the captain, he hit the mace on the Knight's head. Hex didn't stop at that, he even let the mace go, disconnecting from the energy held within it. 

BOOM!

The energy exploded as soon as it hit the captain. The blast threw Hex back. He flew back and crashed into Althea who hurriedly helped him stabilize. 

The shockwave made the cave tremble and shake. Boulders were falling. The walls were having cracks. It was about to implode. 

It took a while for the dust to settle. Hex and Althea both looked immediately toward the place where the captain stood. 

A bloodied figure appeared. His head was bleeding profusely. There was even a dent in his skull. But the Knight was still alive. He was staring at the corpse of his son. 

Right then, a hole appeared in the space. Green vines snaked in the cave. Seeing them, Hex cheered. But he had to make haste. The cave was already collapsing. The hole in the space was accelerating it.

"Grab the vines." With a shout, Hex ran toward the Knight. He was going all out. With gritted teeth, he grabbed a vine and wrapped it around the Knight. After that, he grabbed Sloan's head and tugged at it. 

The vines retracted, pulling everyone out. The bodies of the slum people were pulled out first. Althea had wrapped them up first. While he was being pulled into the hole, the portly man too entered the hole. He had a stupid grin as he gave Hex a thumbs up.

Soon, Hex was pulled out. The last thing he saw was the cavern walls crumbling down. Soon they landed on a hard floor.

Looking up, he saw five masked figures. The person behind a flowery mask walked up to him and patted him.

"You know you are like a cockroach? So difficult to be killed!"