Way of the Knights

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Inside a vast space filled with dark clouds and ominous clouds, a blood red moon shone brightly, flooding the land with a horrifying dark red glow. The air was filled with a bloody stench and the atmosphere was chilling, the type which could make one think that their soul was freezing. 

This land was seemingly unending, at the same time it was also incredibly chaotic. Echoes of pained screams, shrill cries and roars of unwillingness filled this vast expanse of land. The scent of blood was thick, and horrendous looking corpses were strewn everywhere enough to make one retch in disgust. Blood formed rivers, while the corpses formed mountains.

This land, is a land filled with bloodshed. There hundreds and hundreds of people here, all of them had red eyes and were holding weapons. A disturbing scene of constant carnage played along with this land. These people aren't divided into two opposing camps…

Well, there were no camps to begin with.

If someone sees one living, then they will do their absolute best to make it so that the other will no longer be able to have that luxury. 

Everyone was mad, all they knew was to kill. It didn't matter whether they were an adult or a kid, if they see someone alive, they will kill. No one here was clear-headed, all of them shared one desire and one desire alone.

And that is…to kill. 

Somewhere within this land, space suddenly distorted. 

Light warped and formed a shape that looks similar to a human. Within a span of few seconds, this outline became more and more realistic until the figure it formed could no longer be described as fake or real. 

The figure formed was a man. He has a long, aqua-marine hair that is gathered by an ordinary hair tie. His face was incredibly pleasant to look at. He exudes an air of a royalty even without him doing anything. This man wore a tight-fitting black robes that hugged the strong and firm outline of his body. His appearance was clearly out of place. It was as if he was a lone and delicate flower exuding beauty in this land filled with death and decay. 

A moment later, the man opened his eyes and discernable glint could be found in them. His pupils appeared to be a mix of gold and silver, making them look extremely eye-catching. His piercing gaze roamed the lands before him. There was a moment of emptiness in his mind but it didn't take long before he recovered his memories. The moment that this person finished assimilating with his surroundings, he regained his freedom to move, however the first thing he did was to sigh. 

This man was of course, none other than Raven himself. His sigh just now was filled with a bit of helplessness and irritation. 

"Fifth revival." He gently murmured as another sigh escaped his lips. 

His musings were then interrupted by a sudden snarling sound not too far from him. However, instead of being alarmed, Raven just rolled his eyes and didn't even pay attention to the creature snarling at him. 

The creature was a human, but the sounds of his snarls were extremely unpleasant to hear. It was as if this creature was something else that donned a human skin. This person was holding a large axe on his hands, he ran at full speed towards Raven without any regards of his safety but before he could even come close, he was reduced into a pile of goo due to an invisible force. 

This poor person didn't even have the chance to scream before he died. Unfortunately for Raven, this doesn't stop here. 

After killing the first guy, five more appeared and pounced at his direction without any hesitations. Raven did a quick work out of these five but once again, it didn't stop there. After this five, ten more demented people appear and charged at him while snarling like crazed animals. 

Raven grumbled under his breath, saying: "Here were go again."

Ten people, dead. It was then followed by twenty people…who also met their ends at his hands. This twenty people were then replaced by forty people and the numbers just kept increasing. 

In next to no time, Raven slaughtered hundreds of people already, yet their numbers just kept on increasing and increasing. There's just no end to them.

Raven soon entered a rhythm. His face contained nothing but absolute indifference towards the people he killed. He threw all sorts of attacks using arsenal while also keeping some to himself. He used the Archaic Thousand Armed Wheel, his fists techniques, and so on. Yet no matter what he used, the amount of crazed people coming after him didn't decrease, their numbers grew instead of declining. 

Hours passed, Raven didn't even bother to recall how many people died on his hands. His face exuded nothing but pure indifference. His black robes were already drenched in blood, not his, his enemies' blood. If one looked closely, they would even see some random bits of flesh sticking on Raven's robes.

Still, even under this assault of crazed and maniacal people, Raven never ceased moving forward. Even though the scenery around him kept changing, Raven wasn't even aware if there's an end to this land at all. He also didn't really understand why he insisted moving forward, he neither felt some sort of calling nor saw any exits. Perhaps, he was just following his instincts by now. 

Raven was a walking disaster. With each step he takes, the people around him will die. As for how many, he didn't care. So long as he was attacked, he will kill. In a sense, he isn't really any different from these crazed maniacs around him but he begged to differ. 

Even under the monotonous action of constant carnage, Raven's eyes remained clear. Even if seemed to be moving out instinct, his actions followed a single set of rules.

If he was attacked, he will retaliate. If someone wants to kill him, he will kill that person instead. 

This sort of self-imposed rule might be simple but in truth, it is exceptionally hard for someone to uphold it. In a sense, all of this mess wouldn't happen to Raven if the first person didn't try to go after his life. 

As Raven continued moving forward, he left a trail of bodies behind him. Some were intact while others were not. Blood drenched his entire body, even his aqua-marine hair were stained with blood however none of this were his. 

Of course, this non-stop killing took its toll on his. Though Raven had massive reserves of energy, it was bound to be spent due to him constantly attacking. His stamina and endurance also took a hit, after all there were just too many of them. No matter how much he killed, the amount of his enemies never decreased, it ironically increase instead. 

Raven was exhausted and injured. The maniacs might be weaker than him but they weren't mere mortals. They were at least in soldier realm, additionally their numbers were great which compensated from their weakness. 

Slowly but surely, their unending numbers chipped away at Raven. The amount of injuries he has were constantly rising. Yet even with him being constantly injured and even if he was feeling the exhaustion, Raven's mind remained clear. 

In a situation where one has to constantly kill, their spirit will eventually be tainted. The constant massacre will cause them to be jaded. Their fighting spirits will be doused by a cold and apathetic mood and they will slowly, lose their sense of self. 

At this point, it was highly possible for their hearts to be encased in ice. Slowly but surely, they will turn into cold-blooded killers - the type that doesn't feel anything from killing someone. To them, killing someone whether it is a mortal enemy, aggressor, or even their family or friends, none would bring them any joy or sadness. 

From then on, who's to say whether they're still themselves or not? 

At the same time, it wasn't as if Raven had no other choice, it just so happens that the other choice didn't really sound like a choice to him. 

The two choices present to him. One is to fight back, and the other is to accept death. 

Should one decide to pick the other path, then due to the mystical rules of this place. They will be revived and will have to face these two choices once more. 

If they choose to fight, then they must fight until they die and be revived. If they choose to accept death with open arms, then they could skip all fighting but they will eventually be revived again. 

As for how the could escape this fate? Well, that's for them to find out, but due to the grim scene in front of them, searching for the path to escape wouldn't be so simple. After all, this place is made by people from the Ancient Elysium Sect. 

This, is the third and last part of the Aptitude Exams - Test of Will. And compared to the first two that the participants went through before this, it is this part that has the highest risk. 

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