Way of the Knights

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Seeing how the lance that nearly took everything on his power to block, was caught with incredible ease by Henry was a spectacle for Raven. 

Hearing Henry's words, Raven secretly sighed in relief and promptly disappeared from the top of the shuttle. He then reappeared inside under the watch of his pale faced teammates. 

They all tried to assist him but Raven insisted that he was fine, he then told Jason to continue navigating the shuttle back to Tartarus. 

Meanwhile, entered on of the rooms inside the shuttle and sat down to meditate. His face was similarly pale and his blood was still tumbling. Mobilizing what little of his energies left, he cured the inner injuries he sustained from that confrontation. 

'Half of my reserves was gone.' Raven grimaced as he realized this. 'Seriously, what the fuck was that thing? How the hell did it ended up there? Something that strong shouldn't be patrolling the outskirts of the pagoda! What's going on?'

Raven had many questions but got no answers for any of them. Unable to make sense of what's going on either, he decided to throw them at the back of his head and focus on curing himself. 

Still, Raven remained on alert. The shuttle was moving at its top speed right now and thanks to Henry's help, they didn't encounter any troubles on the way back, but just in case they do, Raven wanted to inform the team as soon as possible. 

Within the control room, the rest of the team were silent. 

Although Raven didn't say a word, they weren't stupid. They knew that they nearly died just now. 

The fearsome clash and the incredible spike of energy around them weren't hidden. They could feel everything that happened. Raven saved their lives, if it weren't for him, they won't even have intact corpses by now. 

Blocking the boulders that the Centaur threw at them was already incredibly challenging, even they themselves wouldn't be too sure if could truly defend the shuttle under all of that stress, however Raven did it with ease. 

And if their confidence had already taken a blow from just that, blocking the last attack just now is impossible for them. It came too quick and possessed an incredible momentum and strength. Luckily, Raven was there or else they'd be all dead by now. And luckily, Henry indeed arrived and covered their backs as they fled. 

"Damn! What the hell was that?" Jonathan asked with his voice trembling still. His knees were still weak as anxiety filled his heart. He wanted nothing more than to see the gates of Tartarus right now just so that he can finally feel safe. 

"I don't know but we can ask Senior Brother later." Jason replied while focusing on the road. He himself felt his back drenched in cold sweat but he managed to pull through and continued to take them home. "All I know is we better get out of this place quick. I need some alcohol to forget about the things that happened just now."

***

Henry watched as the shuttle carrying his Junior Brothers disappeared from the horizon. 

When he could no longer see them, he then turned around and glared at the creature roaring at them in a distance. Beside him, two silhouettes wearing an equally solemn expressions appeared and they too, were glaring at the creature. 

"I still am rather curious on how your junior managed to contact you from here even though transmissions can't, but for now I shall let that pass for now since we have some bugs to squash." Logan - the six-armed War God, spoke as he held six different kinds of weapons on each hand. 

"Remember to ask nicely, Logan. We don't want to scare the kid." A man with a long black hair and pure white pupils said as white flames covered his palms. "But you're also right, now is not the time for that. For now, we should ne thankful that we arrived on time."

This man was none other than Theodore Provost, a War God, Fire Keeper and the one who established the Cleansing Chapels. He was called in by Henry and since Raven was included on the group that's in danger, he didn't hesitate to come with him.

Henry was already grasping a sword on his hand, however this time, he's not using a long sword but instead a great sword which was as tall as he is. 

"What I want to know is how the hell did this thing ended up in here?" Henry asked as he took a step forward. His entire being possessed a stifling pressure and a palpable killing intent. 

"Good question actually." Theo agreed, "Why don't we ask?" 

Next to them, Logan cleared his throat and spoke in a unique language. 

"13th Army Commander of Wrath's Sin! - Centurion Lancer! Speak, how the hell did you ended up in here!?" Logan asked in a demanding tone, he was using the Devil's Language to speak to the Centurion. 

The creature looked at them, eyes filled with contempt and fury. It snarled hatefully and tried to pry its lance from Henry's hand but it won't budge. It let out a long bellow filled with hatred. It then opened its maws to speak. 

"Father's Sin, smelled…Elven Abomination! Hateful human! My lance! Give it back! I'll kill you!" 

The three war gods looked at each other in confusion, somewhat confused about what's going on. They didn't pay any heed to the other half of what the Centurion said, they're more interested at the first half. 

"Elven Abomination?" Theo murmured under his breath, "while it is true that the Devils seems to have a unique hatred against Elven people, they never went as far as sending an Army Commander just to purge someone with Elven blood before. What's up with this?"

"That's true." Logan nodded his head, similarly confused about this as well. "We have many disciples who had an Elven bloodline, however the Devils never sent anyone after them. What made things different now?"

Henry himself didn't know the answer to that, so it's useless even if they ask him. 

"All I know is that, this thing nearly killed my precious Junior Brothers and Sisters." Henry stated, "This is an opportunity as well, it's been a while since an Army Commander appeared. Let's take its head back and see what they're currently up to." 

"I call dibs on its horns!" Logan said as he tightened his grip over his weapons. 

"Hey! Not fair! I was about to say that!" Theo complained. 

"Too late, I said it first." 

"Stop fighting you two." Henry stepped in, "Let's kill it and bring it back intact, that way we can divide it equally. You guys ready?"

The two nodded and immediately went serious, as soon as he heard that, Henry blurred into action and followed by the two. 

The Centurion was already alert, so when they disappeared from their spot, it let out an earth-shaking roar that reach all the way to Tartarus. 

That roar was a summoning call since as soon as it was done, a large army appeared behind the Centurion and shot volleys after volleys of projectile towards the charging War Gods. 

Compared to the previous aura of the Centurion, the one it possess' this time was at least twenty times greater than before. Had Raven and the team remained here, they'd probably find it hard to breathe under this stiflingly evil aura. Some of them might even directly faint. 

This is precisely the reason why Henry told them to abandon the mission. Raven's guesses were on point, the Devil's Cradle will indeed turn into a battlefield, something that the likes of them aren't capable of withstanding, 

The Centurion Lancer is a unique kind of Devil. It wasn't included under the list that Henry provided for the team since he never thought that they would find one here. Centurions are found at the 50th level of the Devil Emperor's Pagoda. This one, the Centurion Lancer - as a subordinate of a Sin, can be found at the 82nd floor. An area that even War Gods such as Henry, Logan and Theodore must traverse with great care. 

It was already an incredible feat that Raven managed to block the Centurion Lancer's lance. The sect had lost count on how many inner disciples died under this lance, and for an outer disciples such as him - who's also a freshman too, that feat was nothing short of a miracle. 

The three War Gods worked together to eradicate the army that the Centurion summoned. It was also a great boon that it decided to come all the way down here, making it easier for them to face it. 

Had this been the 82nd floor, the situation might even be considered as dire for them but since this is Tartarus, this creature made the worst mistake of challenging three War Gods at the same time.

For some time, the Devil's Cradle shook fiercely due to the earth-shattering clash. The shockwaves could even be felt all the way to Tartarus. Thankfully, Raven and the team were already out of danger. 

After some time, the shockwaves ceased and three silhouettes flew back to Tartarus like shooting stars. 

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