Way of the Knights

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"Hey you guys, don't look at me like that!" Theo groaned, "As soon as I got my Cleansing Flames I simultaneously become a Fire Keeper. I didn't get the chance to use to experiment much with the flames."

The rest of the War Gods looked at him suspiciously but didn't pursue the subject. Whether Theo was telling the truth of not, it doesn't matter anymore since it's been too long.

They then followed Anastasia towards the Fog of Ruin where the Formation was present.

Once they were within the Fog of Ruin, they saw a huge dome of white fire which creates a clear cut contrast compared to the scenery within the fog itself. The War Gods were impressed. Anastasia lead them inside the dome of fire and to their surprise, the scenery changed. 

"Cold? Are my senses failing me? It's cold!?" Logan the six-armed was gaping as he felt the chilled breeze within the formation. 

In fact, it wasn't just him. All of the War Gods, especially Henry who used to be Raven's handler, were shocked once they arrived within the formation. 

Every single one of the War God present here had once experienced the notoriety of the irritating heat ever present within Asphodel. It left them a profound impression especially after the explosive battle that gave birth to the 'Broken Floor' itself. Not to mention, they're within the Fog of Ruin as well. 

Compared to Tartarus, the dangers surrounding Asphodel were much more threatening, they too once experienced this threats and had close encounters during their time. But now, who would've expected that Raven could easily create a safe zone all by himself? 

Just by his own efforts, he neutralized the fearsome heat of Asphodel and rendered the Wraiths helpless against him with his Cleansing Flames. 

"What pure Cleansing Flames." Theo marveled as he admired the white flames covering the formation. Due to him being a seed bearer his connection with the flames were closer compared to other. But even him didn't possess Cleansing Flames as pure as Raven has. 

"Dear, Lord. If there's a place like this in Asphodel from the very beginning, then I wouldn't have had many problems hunting as many devils as I could! How did this guy do it anyway?" Logan muttered as he admired the formation. 

"It's quite simple yet ingenious as the same time." Julia the Swan War Goddess replied, "He fused Reversion Rune along with a Polarity Rune - both are included amongst the basics of Runesmithing. With those runes together, he arranged them with some supplementary runes such as Thermal Sensing Runes, Repulsion Runes, and Revolution Runes created an array that filters the heat of Asphodel and convert them to the chilling breeze that you're feeling right now."

"So you mean to say that he just used the basic runes to create this formation?" Henry asked. 

"No, it's more than that." Julia replied, admiration couldn't be concealed on her tone. "Yes, he used the basic runes, but he basically super-charged them. Meaning that each of the runes I mentioned earlier were condensed out of 100 lesser versions of the said runes. It sounds easy in words but any expert would tell you other wise."

"Plus, don't tell me that you all still can't feel it yet?" Julia asked causing most of her colleagues to be confused. She chuckled and said: "The Curse of Wrath is unable to penetrate this formation of his."

"Impossible!" Logan exclaimed. Even Anastasia who lead them inside couldn't help but shiver upon hearing this. 

The other War Gods immediately used their senses to check whether Julia's words were correct and to their surprise, she wasn't lying. The Curse of Wrath was truly repelled by this formation! How is that possible? It had to be known that the sect invited countless of people in attempts of neutralizing this curse and yet none of them succeeded. 

"Henry, dude!" Logan stared blankly at his comrade. "Where the heck did you pick this boy up? Why didn't you tell me that he could do this?"

"Don't look at me, I didn't teach him that.". Henry stated, his comrades then gave him a look saying 'Yeah, we know.' Causing his lips to twitch a bit. "Seriously, I didn't he could do this too. Do you think I'd let him be had I known? Don't be ridiculous."

"As for where he came from, according to investigations he ascended from a Lower Plane called Grand Ancestral Plane. He joined the recruitment on the Azure Sun Great World. That's all I know."

"He's from the Lower Planes too?" Jessamine exclaimed. 

"Yeah, he's the same as you." Henry nodded. 

"Actually, where he came from doesn't really matter anymore right? We should be thankful instead that he's here. We truly lucked out with this one." Theo chuckled. 

"Yeah, I agree." Julia nodded, but then she frowned and asked: "By the way, the should be him right? What is he doing?"

"Let me answer that." Kyrie stepped in, she bowed at the War Gods and said: "Young Lord is currently creating the replacement seals needed for the portals. He left us an instruction that he's not to be disturbed in the process."

"Oh, is that so?" Julia nodded, she then peered at Raven's creation and frowned slightly. Nevertheless, she didn't comment on it and left him be. 

"Kyrie, it's been a while!" Jessamine skipped over to Kyrie and locked arms with her. It's was quite obvious that her and this Zither War Goddess were close. 

"Yeah, I missed you Jessy." Kyrie smiled.  action

"What's the situation by the way?" Henry asked. "Lady Hera told us to come here as soon as possible but she didn't give us much details. Can you explain?"

"Sure!" Kyrie nodded but everyone saw that her smiled disappeared. She looked at Anastacia first and said: "Anna, can you watch over the 12th Floor entrance for me?"

"Mn." Anastacia nodded and proceeded to monitor the upper portal.

Kyrie then looked at the War Gods and began telling the story. She didn't exaggerate and only told the facts based on her point of view. 

In the beginning, the War Gods were still calm and collected. However by the time that Kyrie revealed that the Black Rose Organization colluded with the Exiles and explained their scheme, a thick cloud of killing intent suffused from their bodies and their expressions twisted in righteous anger. 

"Hmph! Well done! Well fucking done!" Henry sneered as he unconsciously tightened his grip on his sword. 

"Such a shame, the Grand Elder should've let me visit them instead. Oh well, they'll be wiped out from existence anyway." Jessamine snorted on the side.

"As for those Exiles…hmph!" Logan sneered. "Those fucking cowards are truly audacious. I swear, I'll use every means that I could to make their lives miserable." 

"So you mean to say…" Theo peered over to the 12th Floor portal and continued: "That just past that seal, that portal…there's in an army of devils as far as the eyes can see?" 

His tone was a little peculiar. He didn't sound scared, more like…excited.

"Hey, hey. Don't." Julia held his arm.

"Yeah, don't." Jessamine added. 

"Yeah, that's rude." Henry snorted as he played with the handle of his sword. 

"Yeah, very rude. Don't hog all the fun by yourself." Logan stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and licking his lips. His eyes blazed with a sharp fighting spirit. 

"You guys…" Theo smiled helplessly. "Fine, you win." 

*Buzz!*

A sharp buzzing sound was heard and it got everyone alarmed all of a sudden. It was then followed by a sharp spike of energy fluctuations and a brilliant flash of golden light. 

Everyone looked behind and saw Raven levitating off the ground and releasing a fearsome energy fluctuations. He had his arms spread out beside him, grasping a humongous rune arranged to form the character 'Seal' on each hand. 

The atmosphere turned silent. No one said a thing as they all stared at him in awe as he basked in this golden light. 

"Condense!" They heard him growl. 

The humongous seal on his hands shrank as soon as he said that. They progressively got smaller and smaller until they were reduced to a palm sized seal. 

The seals he made dimmed down and transformed into a runic tattoo etched on his palms. Raven admired his work for a bit before he suddenly staggered and fell down. Everybody was alarmed, thankfully Kyrie was one step ahead of him and was already by his side when he fell.

"Thanks." Raven said to her. 

"It's been hard on you Young Lord." There was comforted smile on Kyrie's face but also a tinge of sadness. 

"I'm good. It's what I ought to do anyway." Raven chuckled. He then pointed at the table and Kyrie knew exactly what he wanted her to do. She guided him towards the chair and Raven sat down on it. 

He fished out some recovery pills on spatial ring and began chewing on them. Once he digested the pills, his complexion eased-up and he breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Are the reinforcements here?" Raven asked Kyrie. Instead of answering though, she merely gestured towards the War Gods who's been staring at him for a while now. 

Raven was startled. He wanted to stand and greet them properly but he couldn't so he just said:

"Oh! Hey. Uh…nice to meet you?"