Way of the Knights

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"Good! Good!" 

The Grand Elder's face was twisted due to sheer anger. He unconsciously crumpled the letter sent to him by Raven.

"Well done Black Rose! Well fucking done!' The Grand Elder fumed, his anger soared through the heavens causing the whole Storm Dweller's Peak to be covered in dark clouds and occasional rumbles of thunder. 

"I must've been rather quiet huh? I must've gone senile. I can't believe I allowed such a scheme to go past me!" 

"Hmph! Enough napping then!" The grand elder huffed. "Hera, Dear. Would you please contact some War Gods and send them to reinforce 9th?"

"Sure, my Dear. But what will you be doing then? Do you need me with you?"

"No, it's fine." The Grand Elder said, his eyes narrowed as he continued: "This Old Man's just going to pay a visit to some 'old friends'. They must've been missing me since I've been rather idle for quite some time."

"Alright, make sure to return by dinner then. I'm making you your favorite food." The lady called Hera softly said, causing a smile to bloom on Grand Elder's face. 

"Thanks Dear. I'm looking forward to it." The Grand Elder then gazed at Anastasia and said: "You return to 9th and tell him that reinforcements are on the way. Hold out for as long as you can and work together to solve this mess. We can't afford this scheme to succeed, too many lives are at risk. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Grand Elder." 

"Go!"

Anastasia and the Grand Elder successively disappeared from their positions as they both had their own destinations. Hera herself closed her eyes and started calling the attentions of the War Gods. 

***

- Asphodel -

Raven could be seen currently glaring at the seals, particularly at the one above him. 

His pupils gleamed with a profound light, enhancing the golden irises and the rainbow colored flow hidden beneath it. 

In his point of view, he vision stretched as far as possible, allowing him to peer through the portal beyond the seal. Everything was revealed before his very eyes. 

He could see the tormented souls of Devils and humans alike trapped within the runes on the seal, tainting it and turning them mad. From beyond the portal, he could see endless waves of devils currently on standby while some are in patrol. 

Raven couldn't see much from where he was but from the sheer numbers that he saw, he could already tell that the army behind him was far from enough to meet the waves of enemies that are coming his way. 

At this, he could only sigh and hope that the Grand Elder would believe him and send reinforcements. 

His instincts were sending him alarms constantly, yet he couldn't bring himself to abandon this place despite that. 

By thus point, he already ordered the men to move the formation, retreating back to the Fog of Ruin. He had the formation surrounded by Cleansing Flames in order to protect the army. So far, this is the best strategy he could form. 

Due to the uniqueness of the fog, causing the devils to pass right through it, he figured that so long as he covered the array with Cleansing Flames, the wraiths within the Fog of Ruin won't be able to hurt the army. He also told some soldiers to be alert and report any attacks to him right away. 

So far, he received nothing and he could still sense that the army was doing fine. Now he's only waiting for the materials he needed in order to make a new seal while he monitored the situation past the portal. 

"Young Lord! Anastasia's back!" Kyrie reported causing Raven to look back. He then saw the crimson haired beauty rushing towards him with visible anxiety on her face. 

Seeing that the situation was practically the same before she left, Anastasia heaved a sigh of relief. She then walked towards Raven and passed a Spatial Ring to him. 

"Here's all the items you asked me to buy Young Lord. Also, the Grand Elder has a message to you." Anastasia reported. 

Raven accepted the spatial ring and nodded, prompting Anastasia to continue her report. 

"He order us to hold out for as long as we could. Lady Hera is already summoning the War Gods to send as reinforcements. Grand Elder himself left and paid a visit to the 'Black Rose'."

"Oh, dear." Kyrie muttered breathlessly. "Well, Black Rose is screwed then."

"They brought this to themselves." Raven sneered. "Who asked them collude with the Exiles?"

The Black Rose is a rather famous, underground organization which ran a Black Market all across the Divine Realm. They had sufficient resources to contend against the reclusive sects and was considered as one of the organizations that cannot be offended due to their endless supplies and human resources. 

It was the Black Rose who offered their services to the sect and proposed to create the seal that would block the passages on the 9th and 12th floor. 

At first, due to its effectiveness, the sect thanked them for it and even gave them some support. However, Raven discovered the scheme they placed and made the Grand Elder angry. 

Who would've thought that they have the gall to work with the Exiles? 

Exiles were a group of traitors that miraculously escaped the hunt of the sect. The Exiles have but a single goal in mind and that is…to free the Devil Emperor from its prison. 

Due to the vastness of the Divine Realm, finding their base of operations were akin to searching a needle out of a haystack. Time and time again they've escaped the sect's watchful eyes, it was quite surprising how they were managing to do so given how much priority the sect had given to this eradications mission. 

Aside from the Exiles, no other organization was bold enough to scheme against the Ancient Elysium Sect simply because the sect's existence was never wrong. Those who were audacious enough to collude with them will be struck down immediately, hence Kyrie's statement. 

There's no need to doubt this either. Any attempts, no matter how small, to free the Devil Emperor could only be the work of the Exiles. It doesn't matter how many attempts they made, there will always be people who will stop them. This is the responsibility of the sect. 

"You two, let's retreat on the Formation for now. Anastasia, remain alert and invite the War Gods here once you see them arrive. Kyrie, you watch over the portal above. At the smallest sign of disturbance, alert the army and prepare to meet the enemy. If the War Gods arrived, then you follow them in battle. I'm not allowed to be disturbed during the creation of the seals. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Young Lord!" The two replied at the same time. 

The three of them retreated within the formation and Raven immediately began working. His hands turned into a blur as he extracted one item after another from the spatial ring in order to make the seals he needed. 

Kyrie and Anastasia were on guard as well. They kept watch over their surroundings and remained silent in order to not disturb Raven from his work. 

Time swiftly passed, Raven's face was currently dripping in sweat. 

Even at his current state, creating the seals that could mend the breach for the pagoda was a little taxing for him. By now, he's surrounded with colorful lights and steaks of lights. Each of the lights were condensed and filled with seals, their numbers reaching millions as Raven continuously created them.

In front of him, two giant runes were forming placed within a huge formation disk made out of expensive materials. Raven couldn't afford to fail since not only did this resources cost more than a million merit points, he only have a single batch of them. This is why he ordered them to not disturb him during this process. 

The giant seals looked rather dull. Even some formation or seals expert would say that this was already failed product but Raven didn't stop. When it comes to seals, only a few people had the qualifications to judge his work. Even then, he didn't necessarily need to listen to them since he knew what he was doing.

At some point in time, Anastasia exited the formation and sped up towards the newly arrived people. She could tell who they were. Who else could it be other than the War Gods themselves? 

There were five of them here, meaning that the sect was obviously treating this matter seriously. Amongst this people were acquaintances of Raven back in days at Tartarus. 

They were Henry the 'War God Heavenly Sword', Logan the 'Six-armed War God', and Theodore the 'White Flames War God'. There's also Julia Selves the 'Swan War Goddess' and Jessamine Shay the 'Zither War Goddess'.

"Your Excellency's!" Anastasia exclaimed catching their attention. The five War Gods saw her and smiled. "Please come with me, the 9th Chosen is in this way." 

"Hmm? Within the Fog of Ruin?" Logan was gobsmacked. 

"Yes, but - "

"But he infused Cleansing Flames within his formation, allowing him to be safe. Mn! I see." Theodore smiled rather smugly. 

"Wait, you can do that?" The other War Gods exclaimed. 

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