Way of the Knights

---

"Okay...this is not good. Not at all..."

Raven was currently sitting inside his office with a deep frown on his face as he stared at the diagram he made about the intel on the Exiles he managed to get so far. 

It has been a few weeks since he discovered the diagram that lead him to the bases of the Exiles. The carriers of the Memory Runes had managed to penetrate deep into their ranks without their knowledge, allowing Raven to get more details on their total forces and the preparations they are doing for the inevitable clash. As so far, he did not like what he saw. Not even a bit. 

Even Raven himself could admit that he had grossly underestimated the sheer determination of their enemies to bring them down. From what he had seen so far, if the clash were to happen within the next month, the sect will definitely even with his help. 

The Ancient Elysium Sect is a powerhouse with millions of experts amongst its ranks. It does not lack talent nor resources, in fact it also didn't lack people who are willing to throw away their lives for the sake of the greater good. However, even with this, their enemies totally outclassed them in every aspect. 

The Exiles penetrated deep into the Divine Realm. They have a total of 30 branches scattered around the realm. Each branch is located far from the other, making it extremely difficult to deal with due to the amount of time it needs to arrive at their bases. 

Additionally, each base are located in a secret realm. As for how they did it, Raven had a few ideas but this in itself is already troublesome enough since secret realms aren't so easy to infiltrate unless they were granted entry from the inside. And from how the Exiles carried their operations so far, its safe to say that the chances of them letting someone in are low, while the chances of them allowing that same person to leave without taking away their freedom is even lower. 

As for the forces alone, every single one of them were glorified slaves. At first, it would look like there is an established hierarchy amongst them but in truth there is only one leader and that is the Allfather, everyone else could be sacrificed for their ultimate goal. 

None of them are truly free, even if they devote their unwavering loyalty to the Allfather, their freedoms will never be returned to them. Every single one of them is marked with a curse that will kill them at the first sign of betrayal. They have no choice but to as they were told if they don't want to die. 

Raven also found out that they managed to procure War Ships as well, and by the looks of it, their War Ships are leagues better than what the sect has. Additionally, they have numerous tools which they could use to lock the coordinates of the pocket dimension where the Mount Olympus is hidden so even if they their moving, they'll be able to locate where they are. 

Each War Ship carried weapons which could blast away the main gates that lead to the sect proper. They also have an accurate map of the inner regions of the sect, as well as the key areas such as Tartarus, Devil's Cradle, Asphodel, Devil Emperor's Tower, Storm Dweller's Peak and so on. They even know where the danger zones are located as well.

Raven already assumed that their plan is to free the minions of the Devil Emperor in order to enlist their help in freeing it. Well, Raven was one step ahead and managed to fortify the seals on their prisons so that should make it a bit more difficult for them to do so, of course it would a different matter if the Allfather himself decided to be the one to set them free instead. 

Aside from that, just the sheer disparity between cultivation ranks of the sect disciples and their slaves were giving him a headache. 

The lowest rank that their slaves had were at least Knight Monarch Realm while for the sect, it would be Champion Knight which is two realms lower that the former. Not to mention, all of them are slaves, worse comes to worse, they could choose blow themselves up instead of choosing to retreat, which will cause a tremendous damage to the sect and its people. 

The sect will be besieged in all sides too since the Devils will most likely ally with them, especially since the devils are connected to the Devil Emperor. 

Even if the sect manages to cinch victory, it would be a bittersweet one since it will be paves with so many deaths on their side. Not to mention, the Allfather would most likely not be idle during this moment.

Raven knew that the Sect Master is strong. If it weren't for the fact that he cared deeply about the well-being of the disciples, he could go on a rampage with hardly anybody being able to stop him. Him and his wife were genuine Divinity Realm Experts, even the slightest movement they do will cause mass destruction around them. 

The Allfather wouldn't care about the well being of his slaves since if he do, then he wouldn't turn them into slaves in the first place, the Sect Master however is different.

As the Sect Master, it is his duty to protect the sect and make sure that the Devil Emperor wouldn't be freed from its prison. He's bound by duty he willingly took so his actions will be measured. Raven could see the Allfather abusing that to his advantage. 

All in all, they are severely lacking right now. The sect wouldn't even be able to defend itself against their onslaught and they will succeed on their ultimate goal. The Devil Emperor will be freed from its prison and the Divine Realm would be done for. 

Knowing all of this is really disturbing. Raven felt a massive headache assaulting him. 

Well, at least he managed to learn about this early. Judging from what he could see, any of these branches won't be heading towards them anytime soon. So there's still time for them to prepare and strengthen their defenses. 

What really irritates him the most is that this war won't be able to wait until he's reach the level of strength he needed to ensure his survival. He's the heir of Chronos, there's no way that he could turn his back away from this, not after everything he's done so far, so it should be no surprise that Raven is under a lot of pressure. What's more is that he doesn't have clue on how much time he has left before this war occurs. 

"Ugh, no time for this." Raven groaned, feeling his head pounding from stress. "I need to make plans to enhance our chances of survival. It needs to be rather discreet as well since I don't want to get rid of the moles just yet."

"If they want to free the Devil Emperor, they would have to at least go up floor by floor in the pagoda. I've managed fortify the seals up to the 50th floor, which should be enough to slow them considerably. I still have some time to fortify the higher floors then and also lay down some nasty traps for them."

"That being said, all of that would be useless if that Allfather personally goes there." 

"Although it pains me to admit this, I am no match for that guy. That dude's an old fossil, a Divinity Realm Expert as well, cream of the crop I'd say. I just can't think of anyways to stop that guy. If there's anyone who could at least slow him down. That would be the Sect Master and the Grand Elder. But as for them defeating him, I can't see that happening unless they have trump cards."

"As for troop strengthening, we're on our way there but it's going to take some time." Raven murmured, "We should be able make it, barely. There will casualties this time but there's nothing I can do against that."

"What really worries me is when the worse comes to worst. I don't want to admit this but the chances of them freeing the Devil Emperor from imprisonment is rather high. If we fail here, the Divine Realm is doomed."

"We've been shouldering this task since eons ago, most people right now had completely forgotten about the horrors the Devil Emperor brought to this land. The Divine Realm is the only home for us, without it, we'll go extinct and the Devil Emperor's Race will devour this land to reverse the fortune of their galaxy. That is something that I absolutely can't allow."

"..." 

Raven bit his lips as he closed his eyes to think. He needed ideas, solutions for this difficult problem. He forced himself to calm down in order to re-organize his thoughts so that he could create another plan. 

After thinking for a bit, he took some papers from the drawers on his desk and began writing down some ideas that might lead him to correct way to approach this whole problem.