Way of the Knights

---

"Yo, 9th! We meet again!" 

A deep voice echoed within a large hall, taking Raven's attention. He looked towards the man who greeted him and nodded: 

"Nice to see you again Taotie, Sir." Raven greeted. 

"Oh you, drop the formalities! Specially when addressing this goofball." Levi who's sitting beside him said. 

Raven didn't reply and instead took a seat amongst them. Within these table are some of his acquaintances, mostly War Gods. There's Henry, Logan, Theo, Julia, Jessamine, Celestine, Levi, Charles, and Paolo. 

There are also some people whom he haven't met before. There's four of them who wore the same uniform and badges as the War God, which means that they are War Gods too. As far as Raven knows, there are a total of 13 War God positions available each generation, which means that all War Gods are here. This was an incredible line-up already. 

Aside from them, there's also other people here. He could see Anastacia, Grand Elder Gin and his Wife Emma, Sect Master Lucas and his wife Alwina, Elder Fallon and others that Raven hadn't met before. 

Raven was feeling a little bit pressured inwardly due to the presence of these giants. He was even starting to wonder why he was summoned here in the first place. 

It was Kyrie who informed him about the meeting. Although he never thought that he'd be meeting the others here as well. Amongst the crowd, Raven could feel some certain presences which bore some familiarity with him but he knows that he never met them before. 

It was an intriguing feeling yet Raven didn't show any signs of discomfort nor curiosity on his face. He remained calm and just chatted with the people he knew. 

After quite sometime, everyone fell a stir. They all looked ahead and saw the Sect Master walking towards the center of the hall. The whole place became quiet, all of them waited for him to speak. 

"I'm sure all of you are wondering why you were summoned here." Sect Master Lucas said, "We'll get to that in a bit, but before we proceed, I'd like to remind everyone that the contents of our meeting today would be extremely confidential. None of you are allowed to tell it to another soul. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Sect Master!" Everyone replied solemnly. The Sect Master nodded, he then looked back to his wife and nodded to her as well. 

Alwina walked forward and said: "There are some recent developments that we discovered. We were fortunate to have gain wind of it this early, any later than this might spell the doom of our sect."

Faint murmurs could be heard from the people around them. Raven who's sharing seats with the War Gods, looked quite calm since he had an idea what they're here to talk about.

"It all started at the 'Prison of the Apocalypse'..." Alwina stated, silencing the crowd. She then began re-telling the story of how they managed to deal with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse the sudden development and all. 

In Alwina's stories, Raven's was nowhere to be found. It was as if he wasn't a part of any of that at all. 

Though Alwina glanced at Raven shortly before starting the story. Raven didn't have any complains. In fact it was better this way. At least there's still a faint veil of mystery is still shrouding him. 

"...we recently did some inspection and we can confirm that the seal is intact and perfectly working. Which means that the Devil Emperor had managed to really find a way to bypass the seal. I don't think I need to explain what this spells for us, right?"

Once she was done re-telling the recent events and how the Devil Emperor managed to attack them despite being sealed in the prison. Everyone felt cold chills running through their spine. 

The atmosphere turned heavy. Everyone's faces were solemn, even the ever-so-lively Paolo the Taotie had a serious look on his face. 

Raven sighed faintly. He couldn't blame them from feeling pressured. Wasn't he the same as them? As soon as he woke up from that event, he had been adjusting his plan and began amassing resources in order for him to become stronger faster. 

Although the sect had never been idle all this time, the same could be said with the Devil Emperor too. In fact, it might've even been working harder compared to them. It has been imprisoned for so long, and the fact that it remained searching for ways to regain freedom is frightening. 

Don't forget that the Devils are born from the Devil Emperor itself. They carried it's will and unless there were killed in a special way, they'll just return to the embrace of the Devil Emperor itself along with the memories they have before they were killed. 

This means that the Devil Emperor knows them more than what they expect. Meanwhile their forces had little to no clue as to what was going on with the Devil Emperor's mind. Who in the right mind would dare to trace the connection between the devils and Devil Emperor itself? Isn't that just suicide? 

So in conclusion, they are in deeper shit more than they dare to realize.

'So what's the plan?' Raven asked inwardly. 'They wouldn't be calling everyone here without a plan right?' 

"I'd be candid with you people..." Sect Master Lucas said with a solemn voice. "Even the way I am right now, I don't have the confidence to say that I can defeat the Devil Emperor. During the clash that occurred previously, I was on the losing side despite only facing one of it's fingers."

Those words caused everyone's heart to sank, however the Sect Master was still not done.

"Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that we're out of options." The Sect Master stated while raising his voice. "Do remember that we are carrying the mantle of our Ancestors. We are the descendants of the ones who sealed the Devil Emperor at its peak. We don't have anything to fear."

"Our Ancestors knew that a day like this will happen, therefore they left us a way to fight back and make sure that whatever the Devil Emperor's planning to do, it is doomed to fail."

"Today, I announce to everyone the opening of the 'Celestial Ascension Platform!' Everyone who bears the mark of our Ancestors are to enter that place in raise their strength. The day when we all achieve the acme of our goals, is the day when we rid the Devil Emperor's Pagoda's devils and slay the Devil Emperor once and for all!"

"Ooohhhhh!" 

War cries echoed within the hall. Their hearts and determination were lit up by the Sect Master's announcement despite not knowing what they have to go through yet. 

Raven remained calm. He was in deep thought instead of feeling passionate and eager...

'What is the 'Celestial Ascension Platform'? What does it do and does it really have a way for us to end the Devil Emperor's existence? I need more information.'

The Sect Master suddenly raised his hand and waved it. Then, multiple scrolls flew towards everyone within this hall. His voice was then heard. 

"Those scrolls contains everything that you need to know about the 'Celestial Ascension Platform'. Carefully study it and decide when to enter. Do not take long. The sooner you achieve Ascension, the better. Does anyone have any question?" The Sect Master asked. 

Nobody raised a hand, therefore he said: "Since that's the case, then everyone is dismissed. Remember that this matter is confidential. Also, be very careful whenever you are venturing through the territories. Retreat at the faintest sign of danger. Prioritize the Celestial Ascension Platform first."

"Yes, Sect Master." Everyone replied. 

"Good! Dismissed." He said as he turned around and retreated back to his personal office. 

'9th, see me at my office. Make sure you aren't followed nor seen by anyone.' The Sect Master's voice echoed in his ears causing Raven to be surprised. He didn't show it in face though and he didn't bother replying. 

"Well then, I'll excuse myself. I will read this in private, just in case you know?" Raven told the War Gods, hinting at something to them. 

Some of the War Gods we're a bit surprised but they followed his lead. They all went back to their office to read the contents of the scroll by themselves. Once he left, Raven made sure to pay attention to his surroundings, his concealed is aura perfectly and saw some people following him. 

The people who were following him were persistent, however he could tell that they have any ill intents for now. He communicated with Kyrie telepathically and gave her some instructions while he distracted the people following him.

Raven managed to shake them off, he then hid himself completely and returned to the hall to meet with the Sect Master personally. He made sure that he isn't seen by anyone and he didn't tell anybody about this at all, not even Kyrie. 

Once he entered, he closed the door behind him and greeted the Sect Master. 

The Sect Master smiled at him and gestured for him to sit down, once he's comfortable. The Sect Master then said:

"I won't beat around the bush 9th. The reason why I called for you privately is because I wanted you to be the next 'Chronos' instead."

"What!?"