Way of the Knights

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Kyrie was speechless…this is probably the first time she felt this way ever since meeting with Raven. 

But no one can really blame her though, anyone who heard the same words that Raven uttered would probably feel that way. 

She's aware that Raven was barely paying attention to her but she didn't care. She continued to look at him like he was some sort of a monster. 

An array formation set-up by someone who hasn't even been in the sect for year, managed to filter the curse left by the 'Sin of Wrath' - a devil that claimed god knows how many of their comrades life and is a child of the Devil Emperor itself. Whether this is luck or skill, she can't be bothered to care since this news is incredibly surprising for her. 

To be honest…Raven wasn't expecting this scenario either. 

He's still familiarizing himself here in Asphodel and still has many things to learn. He originally just wanted to test things out and then this happened. Whether this is a good thing or not, only time can tell. For now at least, he had to do some minor experiments and see what's causing this reaction. 

Raven stood up from his seat and began looking around. In his eyes, all of the details of this formation is fully displayed. He could see it's structure, all of the runes that are included in the formation and even the interaction that the formation has when it comes with contact with the surroundings are visible to him. 

'The formation is a large bubble concealing us within.' He murmured inwardly, 'Asphodel's environment might be different but it doesn't affect the work of the formation in anyway. This is probably because of the enhancements that I made for it.'

'Thanks to my ocular technique, things that are normal invisible can't hide from me. The overall theme of this place is Red which most likely represents the fearsome heat present in this place. This red color comes in many spectrum as well but most of it could still pass through the formation without any problems so I don't think that I should concentrate on that.'

'Maybe the other colors then?' He whispered to himself as he began inspecting the other colors around him. 'No, I should focus on the colors that are being resisted by the Formation.'

Raven's eyes gleamed even more as he arrived at this conclusion. He then began observing the Formation in a closer detail in order to see which colors are being blocked by the formation. 

From his perspective, he could see tendrils of deep blue, violet, and black being blocked by the formation. He then focused his attention to these three. 

'It isn't Black…that color should represent the evil air from the Devil Emperor, his will in a sense. Okay, so any runes that could block the Will are out of the question here.'

Raven observed the surroundings even further and inspected his remaining choices. He then faced the still shocked Kyrie and asked: "Hey, Kyrie."

"Y-yes, Young Lord!?" Kyrie stuttered, causing her to feel flustered. Raven's voice awoken her from her stupor and brought her back to reality. She couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed since she wasn't paying attention just now. 

Raven didn't mind this and instead asked: "Have you seen the Sin of Wrath in person? What does it look like?"

Kyrie was a bit surprised by this sudden question but she still answered him: "I've only seen him once before. The Sin of Wrath is a male about 9 foot tall and had a bulky body. He has pointed ears, large nose, charred skin, and is bald."

Raven nodded and had a decent image of the what the Sin looked like. But this didn't really give him the information he needed. 

"How would you describe it's aura?" Raven asked. 

His question puzzled Kyrie but she still answered: "It's incredibly vile. From what I can remember, it's aura was a dirty violet in color. It permeates everywhere and could instantly drown anything it touches to madness in fury."

"Oh. So…violet huh?" Raven murmured, still looking at the formation. A gleam shone in his eyes as he focused on the violet mists surrounding the formation, unable to penetrate it. 

'That should be my answer then.' Raven inwardly thought. 'Since it's a creature created by the Devil Emperor itself, then he should represent his power. If the Devil Emperor's Will alone could instantly wither all life forms at it's presence, then that talent should be passed to its own creations.'

'The Devil Emperor's Will is represent by the ever present black mist here. In Tartarus, it was maroon for some reason, however in the Devil's Cradle it turns to Black once again, here in Asphodel where it's mostly Red, the black mists is still around.'

'Curse if another form of a 'Will Exertion'. Since the Aura of the Wrath's Sin is Violet, then it's Curse and/or Will should follow the same color.'

'Let see if my theory is correct.' 

Raven then started to analyze the formation and search for the runes that helped to prevent the Violet Mist to penetrate within the formation. 

Kyrie, who's observing Raven from a distance, saw him lifting his finger and started drawing hollowed seals - the kind she had never seen before. Whilst curious, she remained quiet lest she interrupts her Young Lord's concentration. This was the first time she saw Raven playing with seals and from what he displayed, he seems to have some high-attainments in it.

Add this to the list of things she didn't know about Raven. 

Kyrie witnessed as the number of hollowed seals grew in number. After a few minutes, there's at least five hundred seals floating around Raven which honestly surprised her. 

She also saw the stern expression of Raven's face so she didn't dare to utter a word. Instead, she remained standing still and ready to follow orders anytime Raven gives one out. 

Raven stared at the hundreds of seal surrounding him while frowning slightly. The cogs of his brain were moving at extreme speeds, allowing him to analyze and deduce multiple things at once. 

After a few more minutes, Raven picked at least one hundred seals from the roster and focused on them. He then waved his hand and the hollowed seals started merging together forming one luminous seal that floated on top of his palm. Seeing this seal caused Raven to raise a brow and say:

"Huh…this works too?" Raven murmured. 

His surprise was not on the fact that the hollowed seals made a luminous one nor that he managed to actually fuse one hundred seals to form a single one. What surprised him is the fact that the result of the one hundred seal fusion is something familiar to him. 

This seal was the same one recorded within the [99 Holy Seals] and it's the 50th Seal, which is something that he has yet to decipher. 

This result was incredibly surprising for him. He didn't know that by just merging one hundred seals he already knows will end creating a Seal that he still has yet to decipher. In a way, this should make sense since the Table of Seals is just an endless variations of the basic ones. That being said, so far he only managed to decipher the 13th Seal of the [99 Holy Seals].

For him to make an accidental discovery like this…is maybe just luck. But then again, this accidental discovery broadened his horizons and might help him in deciphering the seals faster. 

Raven shook his head and threw this matter at the back of his head. For now, he had other things to consider. 

He faced Kyrie and beckoned her to come close. She nodded and came close to him, then Raven took her hand and placed the seal on the back of her palms just like a tattoo. He then looked at her and asked:

"How do you feel?" 

Kyrie frowned and stared at the seal, replying: "I…don't feel anything."

"I see." Raven nodded. "Well? Can you try exiting the formation and see whether it's effective? This should provide some sort of a veil that dispels the curse."

Kyrie's breath hitched as she heard that. With a solemn expression, she nodded and started walking out of the formation. 

'This is unbelievable. It took him less that an hour to decipher and create a seal that could potentially protect humans from the Curse of Wrath. This is something that not even the Formation Experts managed to do before! If this really works then this will certainly…ah, I just hope that it works!' This was Kyrie's thoughts as she slowly stepped out of the formation. 

As soon as she stepped out, Kyrie made special attempt to lower her guard in order to truly test the seal. 

Kyrie's breath stagnated for a bit as she saw the seal on her hand releasing a soft glow. Seeing this, she dropped her guard completely and waited. Minutes passed and Kyrie's heart was leaping in joy. 

Unfortunately, by the fifteen minute mark, the Seal on her hand shattered....