Way of the Knights

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After taking the Pom of Vitality from the Sun Temple, Raven didn't hesitate to exit the place. 

He seemingly appeared out of nowhere but in truth, it was the Sun Temple that is hidden in plane sight. And since he exited the Sun Temple, he merely returned to the outside. Raven wasted no time despite his exhaustion. He rode the Spatial Abode and set the coordinates for automatic travel. 

From the East, Raven travelled straight towards West using the Spatial Abode. 

The Great Wilderness where the Final Haven Kingdom is falls under the general direction of west so Raven was making his way towards that place. 

That being said, even though he's really missing home and wants to come back, there is one more errand that he as to finish. 

Raven had taken a route that will take him to the Center of the Grand Ancestral Plane. This will be his final destination before he could eventually come home. 

He of course hadn't forgotten about his deal with the old man. He gave him his word that he will help with the plane's problem, and Raven had no plans on turning his back against a promise.

It just so happens that this errand is of an outmost importance as well. It deals with a problem that had been troubling the whole plane for a very long time already. He just couldn't ignore it after knowing everything, specially considering the fact that the source of the problem was the same entity that he wanted to purge for quite some time now. 

Vit'hum. 

This Pale Bastard had been the headache of not only the kingdom but of the whole plane for ages already. It is due time to end its existence. But in order to do that, he must be careful. 

As a being that had lived for a very long time, he assumed that Vit'hum is not an idiot. Since it is being worshipped as the God of the Black Curtain Guild, it is obvious that its intelligence is nothing to scoff at either. action

Its power remains unquestioned as well. Vit'hum is a Dragon Kin. He might've been born as a hybrid but the blood of overgrown lizards flows through its vein. Even if its growth was stunted, the strength it possess is something that is lethal to the kingdom. Therefore, Raven had to device a plan that would enable him to kill the bastard once and for all. 

Raven had never faced Vit'hum before nor seen it in the first place. Raven had an image in mind but of course he couldn't be so certain, either way whatever this Vit'hum might look like, it doesn't matter since it needs to die. 

***

The travel towards the Center will take some time. 

From Raven's estimations, it will take him at least half a year before he arrives there. This would've been faster with the help of the old man since he could just teleport himself along with Raven, but that would require a decent chunk of it's energy so Raven opposed to do it. He didn't want Vit'hum to take advantage of the Old Man's weakness to cease the Plane's remaining lifespan. 

Travelling there normally has its own merits as well. 

For one, it provides him ample time to raise his strength. If he could at least step into Late-stage Golden Knight Realm, that would be beneficial. 

Another thing is that the old man's act needed some time as well. Before he left for the Sun Temple, he had given the old man some instructions. He told him to convince the Pale Bastard to believe that the plane's getting weaker and weaker, this was done to get the full attention of the bastard. Raven told the consciousness to do it slow in order to work, and if the old man went according to the plan then there's no need to rush there at all. 

On top of this, Raven also has to raise his Alchemy expertise in this period of time. 

It is not like he didn't have faith that Richard will reach the appropriate stage to concoct the medicine needed for in-laws. In fact, he had faith on Richards hard work and trusted him to uphold his promise. But of course, no one could really tell what will happen. Raven just wanted to cover all of his basis, and it's not like he won't benefit from doing this in the long run. 

Finally, the most important reason why he wanted to travel there normally, is because he wanted to defeat his 50th enemy at the Palace Grounds. 

True to Raven's disposition, he never missed out on any opportunity to strengthen himself, thus his adventures and battles inside the Crown Space never ceased as well. 

Although he had been expecting to meet a wall - or an enemy that will really make things difficult for him, he wasn't expecting to be stuck at the same enemy for a very long time. He had been fighting 50th enemy in Palace Grounds for nearly a year now and he still hadn't defeated it. 

The enemy greatly infuriated him but at the same time, earned his respect. Even if he's just facing a mindless avatar that acts upon instinct, he could tell that the guy was a master. 

From the way his enemy moved, he could more or less tell that he's a very experienced fighter, almost as if he was battling his entire life. Each move he throws are lethal even if he wasn't targeting a vital part of the body. It also didn't help that this guy was mid-stage Hero Realm, a whole realm above his own cultivation. Even though Raven's used to fight enemies above his level, the gap between Golden Knight Realm and Hero Realm is just that massive. 

To top this all off, this guy knows Light Laws and is an expert at it. His expertise in utilizing his laws was so skillful that Raven had no doubts that he reached the 2nd field of study for Light Laws which is 'Lightspeed'.

Just by the name alone it should be obvious, this guy is capable at moving with the speed of light. Even with his enhanced senses, there was no way to follow his movements at all. In the first few attempts, he got his ass handed towards him. It didn't feel good but he couldn't do anything about it, his enemy was simply too strong that the moment he step inside the pocket dimension, he gets killed. 

It took him a good a couple of months before he was able to adjust with the tempo of the battle. He managed to give him a good fight but Raven's always defeated. But as time passed, he kept on adapting to his enemy and he figured that it won't be too long before he could finally achieve victory. 

With his recent breakthrough, he recent attempts felt better and with new tricks up his sleeve, his chances of winning rose significantly. Therefore, he planned on defeating this guy before he arrived at the Center of the Plane. 

***

Some time passed…

Raven stood inside the Palace Grounds, precisely in front of the 50th pocket dimension. 

The level of pressure he was enduring was alright, it wasn't particularly heavy nor light. But of course, he wasn't paying attention to that. 

He let out a long exhale and deactivated the Resistance Seal on his body. He did a few stretches to adjust to the current lightness he was feeling. He also summoned the Hammer pre-emptively. Raven also exited his Deep Meditation and placed his whole focus on the upcoming battle. 

He summoned his Knightly Armament too. The golden armor adorned his body perfectly, giving him a heroic appearance and providing him even more confidence about this fight. 

"Alright, me." He said, hyping himself up. "This is it. This is the one. I can feel it. Focus. Adjust. Adapt. I can do this."

After chanting this, he bravely stepped inside the pocket dimension and felt it pulling him on a different location. 

His vision blurred for a moment but it didn't take long enough before he was able to regain his vision. His battle intent flared even before he fully manifested on the battle space. 

The location of their battle is situated in the middle of a dense forest. Before he materialized, his eyes were already searching for his target. 

Then he found him. The man that had been a thorn on his side for nearly a year now. 

He doesn't know his name but he calls him Carl. He had no idea why but he liked the sound of it, so now this guy is called Carl. 

Carl wore a white martial robes underneath a white plated armor. Just by his stature alone, one could already feel the menacing air about him. He looked like a Holy Knight with his appearance, his weapon of choice was a rapier on his right hand and a buckler on the left.

Raven was already glaring at his direction and Carl was doing the same. 

And as soon as Raven fully materialized, the two already transformed into streaks of light and went on with the fearsome battle.