Way of the Knights

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By the time Raven and his teammates regained their vision, they were already riding a shuttle which looked like a boat. It streaked in the air, flying several miles per second. 

"What happened Senior Brother?" Jason asked as soon as he regained his bearings. 

"There's an eruption." Henry said as he stood at the helm of the shuttle. 

"An eruption?" Most of them repeated, confused as to what Henry meant by that. 

*ROOOOAAAARRRR!*

"What the fuck!?" Henry didn't even get the chance to reply when all of them suddenly heard a ferocious howl behind them. 

Everyone turned around to look only to see a gigantic silhouette of a humanoid roaring towards the moon. It was then followed by a repulsive wave of killing intent that send shivers to everyone it touches. It was extremely similar to the one they felt during their first step within the Devil's Cradle. 

"Bad! This is bad!" Nelson exclaimed in panic, "I can sense multiple devils running towards the us and they are extremely swift! There's at least twenty of them!"

"What!? Are you shitting us?" Jonathan's eyes widened as he questioned. 

"I wish I was buddy, but not this time." Nelson replied while tightening his grip on his weapon. 

"What is going on here Senior Brother?" Michelle asked in a distressed manner as she too prepared for the impact. 

"Like I said, it was an eruption." Henry replied. A sword appeared on his hand and he performed a simple horizontal swing. 

The junior disciples heard dying screeches after that, which means that Henry already took care of the Devils that are rushing towards them. They heard him say:

"Like what I mentioned before, the Devil Emperor's Pagoda lies in the very center of the Devil's Cradle. The pagoda is the seal that contains dimensional rend where the Devil Emperor is sealed. It also contains the hoards of these abominations pouring out from the humongous dimensional rend."

"I also mentioned that the reproduction rate of Devils are absurdly fast. The reason why the Devil's Cradle contained some Devils is because of that. Due to how fast they reproduce, Devils within the pagoda often finds a way to bypass the restriction their prison and be free to roam around this area."

*Swing!*

*Dying Screeches*

"Their reproduction rate is a problem that we still can't solve. The only way for us to keep them contained is by repeatedly whittling away their numbers. Unfortunately even with that method, the multiplication of these abominations just doesn't stop or slow down, which is why sometimes things like the Eruption occurs."

"Eruption is the event where the number of Devils inside the Pagoda reaches certain amount that the prison can't hold them anymore. In order to keep the pagoda functioning properly, it discharges everything it has and will close by itself once the deed is done."

"But that creates a huge problem to us. Now that a great number of Devils were discharged from their prison, they will most definitely try their best to erase all manner of life within this place. And it's our task to contain them. Thankfully, the discharge only happened in the First Floor."

Henry explained what the Eruption was all about, and as the team hears they couldn't help but feel chills all over their body. 

"What kinds of Devils are we expecting and how many are there Senior Brother?" Raven asked after a moment of silence.

"The First Floor of the pagoda is the home of Imps. As for the number, we're looking for at least 100,000." Henry replied.

"That many!?" Several voices were raised after hearing the absurd amount from Henry himself. 

"That's the lowest estimate." Henry said plainly, "I told you, their reproduction rate is absurdly high."

"Does this event happens regularly?" Ryan asked.

"Not regularly, but it's constant. At least five times a year here in Tartarus. The only problem is that we have no way of knowing when." Henry answered. 

"Then what do we do? Isn't this dangerous?" Pyra asked in a very distressed voice. 

"We return and you'll eventually know." Henry replied, he then looked at Pyra and said: "Don't worry, this isn't the first time that we dealt with an Eruption. We have counter measures that will ensure everyone's safety."

His words finally caused everyone to at least feel secured. Right, what were they worrying about anyway? It's not like they were the only ones who will fight this hoard of devils. There's many other outer disciples aside from them who will also defend Tartarus. And if that's not enough, Henry was here. His title as a War God isn't for show. There's nothing to worry about. 

The shuttle they rode on moved swiftly, making the return which would normally take several hours by foot, shrink into mere minutes. Before the Unit-17 knew it, they were already staring at the large metal gates of Tartarus. 

They also saw the giant, who was guarding the other entrance, here. Unlike his amicable and debatable cuteness from before, its face was now frosty as it glared over to the distance while holding his gigantic spiked club. 

It didn't even looked nor greeted Henry when they passed by, not that anyone will mind its current behavior, there's an emergency after all. 

As soon as the shuttle entered the vicinity of Tartarus, the team heard several noises of sirens and droves of people hurrying from one place to the other. Most of the team was confused but everyone's in a rush and so are they. 

Henry placed them down using unknown means and kept the shuttle. He then started walking forward while signaling them to follow him. 

Everyone who saw Henry made way for him while performing a short salute. Henry acknowledged them but not all as like what was previously mentioned, everyone was in a hurry. 

Henry and Unit-17 eventually arrived at a certain location, which was a top of their own base. The base was originally a tall cliff filled with caves which leads to Unit-17's rooms and the inner base. 

To everyone's surprise, they saw several equipment mounted on the top of the cliff. It formed a neat line, waiting for the unit to use them. 

The equipment was a construct, like an exo-skeleton that covers most parts of their bodies. It includes a neat looking helmet, long arms and short legs. It almost looks like an ape in all honesty.

"These are what we call 'Siege Defense Construct'." Henry introduced, "Think of it as an armor that's not meant for close quarters combat. As you can see, it only covers your head, arms and legs as well as your spine. Don't worry, that's on purpose."

Henry then went close to one and tapped it while saying: "To use it, you just place the helmet on and it will automatically morph to your size. Try it."

The junior disciples nodded and picked one construct for themselves. Raven followed Henry's instructions and placed the helmet on. As soon as he did so, he felt the construct moving on its own, adhering to his body almost instantly. 

His vision warped for a second, and to his surprised the he felt his vision clearer that before. The suppression on his ocular technique was no longer there, allowing him to see at a great distance which is also seemingly boosted by the construct. The construct didn't feel heavy. In fact, it feels like he's just wearing another set of clothes. 

Once everyone manned their constructs, they heard Henry's voice again. 

"If any of you feel uncomfortable then say it now. That is a dangerous sign so I encourage you to tell me, you won't get in trouble for doing so." Henry stated, and seeing that nobody said anything relieved him. 

"Okay, let's move on." Henry continued: "Now, this construct is built to deal with devils at a great range. An archer or sniper if you will. In order to shoot projectiles, all you do is lift your arms and aim, you should then see a marker appearing before you. Tell me if you can see them."

The junior disciples did what he said and aimed in front of them. All disciples saw the marker that he was talking about which means that all constructs are working as intended. 

"The marker is where you're aiming at, if you want to shoot then pull trigger. The trigger is the handle you feel in your arms, which means that if you clench your grip…"

*Bang!*

"That happens…" Henry looked at Raven, who not only pulled the trigger but also killed a devil in the process. His example was then followed by the rest so there were a lot of shooting sounds that occurred. 

"If you want to fire continuously, then don't relax your grip. But be warned that there are other disciples who will charge to the frontlines. Don't shoot them. Your projectiles are meant for Devils, not for fellow disciples."

"Each projectiles costs some of your energy, so make sure to be wise on how you spend it. Each Devil you killed will be recorded by the construct and will then turn into your Personal Merit Points so do your best."

"Finally, if you want to dismount, just yell 'Dismount' and the construct will be peeled away from your body."

"Now that you're all been briefed.. Your task is to shoot as much devils as you could and make sure that none of them gets past this line. Now get ready to confront the enemy!"

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