Way of the Knights

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Going back few moments early before the ritual was finished.

The Kingdom was tranquil, people enjoyed the comfort of staying inside their own homes as the night descended. Some people were a tad unfortunate to be placed on a night shift but all in all, everything remained particularly peaceful.

It was then that a bright flash of red light soared to the skies and expanded into a screen of light, wide enough for people to see.

Many people caught sight of this and was genuinely confused as to why this screen of light appeared out of nowhere. Some people were even alarmed of such sight and immediately panicked, thinking that doomsday finally arrived. As more and more people discovered the screen of light, a sudden change appeared which brought tumultuous waves upon their hearts.

The screen of light showed bird's-eye view of several people inside a facility that barely anyone knows of. They saw people wearing dark robes and sat in a circular formation, steadily chanting some strange incantations. In the middle of this circular formation, a fat man sat. His body was covered in tribal markings and his facial expression was kind of disturbed. In front of him was a large basin filled with viscous red fluid.

Not too far from them, a young man, probably not even in his twenties, stood. His youthful face was frosty like a piece of never melting ice. His hand tightly gripped the hammer he was holding as he stood straight like a spear. Of course, this was Raven.

"How many?"

Raven's voice was heard loud and clear by the people who were watching.

"Tell me. Exactly how many people, you imbeciles used to perform this evil ritual?"

As Raven continued speaking, the image on the screen lifted and showed the horrifying sight of hundreds of people hanged by their necks in the ceiling of the room while their stomachs were cut open.

This harrowing sight caused many people to let out a horrified gasps, some people outright threw up. They had no idea what was going on but what they saw will most likely haunt them in their dreams for many nights.

In truth, the only reason why they could see what was going on inside the tallest building of the underground district of the Mort Family is due to Raven using the Life Conversion Technique. Exchanging twenty years of his longevity, he was able to cast a technique called 'Ruler's Vision' which allows him to capture the situation in his location on a controlled perspective.

Sure, Raven could've used his badge to call for reinforcements. Sure, he could've sent a messenger hawk to his father to let him know about his current situation. But in the end, he chose this over those options. Why? He wanted to slap everyone awake from their fantasies that they're at peace. He wanted to remind them why they were cultivating in the first place and he wanted to reveal the truth in front of their faces.

Everyone watched as Raven single handedly fought against people who were definitely stronger than him. They see how he bravely fought and killed them without showing any ounces of pity nor mercy.

"Blood Ritual: Devil's Cradle. This is what this ritual of your is called right?" After the battle, Raven spoke once more. "A sinister ritual that requires massive amounts of human sacrifices."

"You're right." Raven nodded his head, "I am one of the people who infiltrated this underground district of yours. Originally, my intentions are just limited to ending the existence of the Burning Heaven Clan, after all if they continue to exist, then my heart won't be at peace knowing that there is a threat to my family."

"I saw this building from a distance and felt my heart stop, at first I wondered why and thought to ignore it but the foreboding sense of urgency gnaws at my heart. My curiosity got the better of me so I infiltrated this place as well and look at what I've stumbled upon? A ritual that ended the lives of many people who mysteriously went missing on the surface."

"And for what purpose?" The watchers saw Raven sneer and said: "To summon people from the Black Curtain Guild, am I right?"

All of a sudden, the air surrounding the kingdom became heavy. From the different locations, auras flared as well as terrifying killing intents. These people solemnly watched the skies, and as they listened to Raven's words, their rage soared to point that it covered the whole kingdom.

"You used human sacrifice here while they used blood of infant beasts there. The ritual will create a two-way portal from their location to here, allowing them to send as many of their soldiers to terrorize and cause destruction inside the kingdom."

"Let me guess." Raven gripped the handle of his hammer tighter and spoke in a harsh tone.

"They will destroy as many as they could while you sit here and wait. Once the destruction is in full swing, you will step in and save the day, making the Royal Family indebted to you once again. Like this, you can keep eroding the forces of the Royal Family and people's trust towards them, while you reap the benefits and wait until the perfect time to uproot the Royal Family."

"Then because of your leadership, you'll become the next monarch and all of the wealth of the Kingdom will be yours, of course you'll rule alongside the Black Curtain Guild. Got to admit, this plan is really effective since this wasn't the first time that you did this correct? How else are you people allowed to stay inside the kingdom despite the Royal Family hating you?

"Is my line of thought correct? Yael Mort?"

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Explosions were heard in every direction. The crowd watched as several people rose into the air with faces contorting in anger. People watched as they turned into flashes of light which all converged into the place where the screen of light emerged earlier.

"KILL THIS BRAT FOR ME! KILL HIM! I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DO IT! KILL! KILL HIM!"

The roars of Yael reverberated throughout the kingdom. At this point, there was no need for any confirmation. The way he reacted was enough for people to know that Raven's narration was correct.

Disgust, loathing, anger, etc. All sorts of negative emotions were roused and pointed against the Mort Family. They never knew that this kind of sinister person was living amongst them. Many hearts bled as they see the fates of the sacrificed, some even wailed since they recognized some faces. Many people converged towards the Mort Family Estate and most of them were cultivators who couldn't tolerate the existence of the Mort Family any longer.

Nevertheless, many people also worried about the safety of the young hero who confronted Yael and his forces. He was alone, it didn't matter how capable he was, everyone knew that he needed help. It goes specially well with people who recognized who he was. Everyone who knew Raven didn't hesitate to go over the Mort Family Estate in order to aid them.

Along the way, there's nothing they could do other that to watch how Raven faced multitudes of enemies alone, never backing down and showing no mercy.

In the end, their worst fears arrived. Everyone witnessed as the ritual was finished and the portal was created. Everyone's heart clenched involuntarily, they saw how the Black Curtain Guild's forces came out of the portal, covered with evil auras. They were forced to watch as their numbers grow from mere hundreds to nearing a thousand strong people. Without a doubt, this was the biggest invasion that had ever occurred in the Kingdom.

No one blamed Raven for not being able to do anything, he was alone after all. Experts of the kingdom knew that he was doing his best to buy some time before reinforcements arrived. Some people should've arrived earlier but the Mort Family Estate sudden entered a full defense mode and blocked all invaders out, which means that while Raven silently endured and faced Yael's forces, the reinforcements were trying their best to get rid of the blockade in order to aid him.

Raven of course wasn't aware of that since he was focused on his battle. Nevertheless, with more and more people coming to aid him, the defenses of the Mort Family Estate eventually crumbled and with that, the forces of Knights who came in order to aid Raven, descended like a tide.

The first one's to arrive were Raven's friends along with Bradley since they were the closest, next was Luis along with the Hawk Force, then Old Lee, Crown Prince Balmung and the Elite Forces of the Royal Army as well as many more people.

They saw how the Fifth Emissary roused the souls of the dead in order to deal with Raven. They also watched how Raven repelled it by using the Life Conversion Technique once more in order to perform a holy technique that redeemed to souls of the dead.

And when Raven was heavily injured by the Fourth Emissary's attack. Luis couldn't hold it anymore and erupted into wrathful roar.

"YOU EVIL SPAWN! YOU DARE TO HARM MY SON! THIS OLD MAN WILL END YOU!"